


Marching to the Beat of a Different Timeline

by fandomlver



Series: It's All About the Journey [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-30
Updated: 2012-06-08
Packaged: 2017-11-02 18:47:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 60,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/372166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomlver/pseuds/fandomlver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oxford was Luke's chance at normal. At least, until he met the pretty girl in his Ancient Languages class...and the girls who follow her around, and the strange boy who hangs around her flat, and those weird phone calls from her sister...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing. This is in answer to a challenge on TtH.
> 
> I know this is very short; it's just a prologue. Future chapters will be longer.
> 
> Enjoy.

"...and they were really creepy, Luke, all sunshades and black suits, it was like Men in Black come to life."

"And Androvax is gone?"

"Yeah, off to – I dunno, reseed his race on a new planet, or something. Whatever, you know?"

"And the – Mr Dread?"

"Gone back to sleep. Mr Smith reckons he'll probably never wake up, not unless Androvax or another Veil comes back."

"Sounds like he needs the rest."

"Yeah, I guess. So! How's Uni? Settling in all right? Corrected any teachers yet?"

"We've not really have any proper classes yet. Just orientation and things. It's great, though. I love it here."

"Yeah, well, we expect you to graduate in record time, got it?"

Luke hesitated, biting his lip. "Really?"

"No." Clyde's voice was fond. "Just enjoy yourself. And come back and visit soon."

"I will." Luke started walking again. "How's school?"

"Weird without you. No signs of anything odd going on down there?"

Luke jerked to one side to avoid a girl who was also on her phone. "Sorry!" she said apologetically.

Luke grinned, shaking his head, and kept going. "No, Clyde. There's nothing weird here at all."

 

"Yes, Buffy, I'm here. Yes, Buffy, I'm checked in. Yes, Buffy, I got a single room. No, Buffy, no one's tried to kill me..."

"You're very funny," Buffy said, amused. "Seriously, Dawn, are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Honestly. I've checked and my living expenses are coming into my account, and I've got all my books, and I know my way around campus. I'm carrying a stake and I'm not going out at night, and all the Slayers on campus know me and have my class schedule. That's about the best I can do."

"And you haven't seen anything weird?"

Dawn blinked as a boy on his own cell twisted to avoid her. "Sorry!" she apologised. He grinned and waved her off, already talking into his phone again, and she kept going. "No, Buffy. There's nothing weird here at all."


	2. Chapter One

Author's note: This chapter references events in the SJA episode 'Death of the Doctor'.

Chapter One

Sarah Jane wasn't sure how long the message had been waiting. She'd left the house early that morning for a 'short interview' without checking in with Mr Smith. Of course, she'd stumbled across an alien invasion, and it took most of the day and two separate slimings to deal with it. This time, Clyde was the only one who wasn't slimed.

When she got home, she showered and fell straight into bed, and it was late the next morning before he headed up into the attic.

"Mr Smith, I need you," she said absently, crossing to her desk.

"Sarah Jane. How did your interview go?"

"It was interrupted."

"Oh dear. Nothing serious, I hope."

"Oh, another day, another alien invasion." She pulled a book off the shelf, leafing through it.

"I have a message from Luke."

"Oh? What is it?"

"He asks you to call him as soon as possible. He stresses that nothing is wrong, but he does wish to speak to you."

She put down the book, frowning. "He could have called me...how did he seem?"

"I am not particularly skilled at reading human emotional states, but I believe he was...distracted. Anxious, perhaps. He stated twice that no one is hurt or in danger."

"Right. Well, let's find out. Beep his computer."

"He may be in class or away from his room."

"We won't know until we try. Beep him, please."

"Connecting."

Mr Smith's screen stayed blank, but Luke's voice said cheerfully, "Hi, Mum. Just a second..." There was movement on his end and then Luke came into view, settling in front of the computer.

"Anything wrong?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Oh, K9 keeps getting caught in the wires. We're still working things out here."

"I see. How's college?"

He grinned. "Small talk, Mum? Really?"

"I like hearing about what's happening in your life."

"Yeah, but right now you just want to know why I wanted you to call."

"Yes," Sarah Jane admitted.

"There's nothing wrong."

"So I keep hearing."

"I want to change my course."

Sarah Jane blinked. "What?"

"I want to drop physics. I've talked to my advisor. If I make a final decision by the end of the week I can be in my new course in time to catch up."

"That won't be hard anyway," she noted. "Luke, I thought you loved physics. You were so excited."

"I did. I do. But...Mum, I've been studying with Mr Smith for the last four years. I sat into a fourth year lecture the other day. I'm already ahead of that. I have to keep slowing down so I don't stand out too much. I don't want another four years of that, I had to do it in school and I just...college is supposed to be different."

Sarah Jane nodded slowly. "What are you going to study instead?"

"Anthropology. I want to understand people, Mum. That's...it's hard for me. It's something I can work at. Physics is...it's easy. I don't have to work at it. It just comes. It doesn't feel like I've done anything." He grimaced, looking away. "I worked this all out. Everything I was going to say. It all made perfect sense."

"If it makes sense to you, Luke, that's fine. You've talked to your advisor, he's all right with it?"

"Said the physics department would miss me but Anthro would probably throw a party. And if there was any way I could spare the time for the Maths bowl, that'd be great." He studied her. "Mum, you ok?"

"Yes, of course." Thoughtfully, she said, "My son the anthropologist."

"Have you decided on your speciality, Luke?" Mr Smith asked.

"Not sure yet. I don't have to decide for a while, I can try them all. I like the thought of archaeology – maybe I could find some old alien crashes, or something."

"There's plenty to find," Sarah Jane agreed. "I think you'd be good at that."

"Thanks, Mum," he said. He looked so relieved that she had to smile, and he asked "What?"

"Did you think I'd disown you? Luke, I want you to be happy. That's all I ever wanted. If Anthro's what you want, study it. Be brilliant."

"Thank you," he said again. Glancing over his shoulder, he added, "I'll go talk to my advisor now, then."

"Is he nice?"

"He's very nice, Mum. I like Mr Giles. He's really trying to help me."

"Good." She smiled again. "Love you."

"Love you, Mum. I'll call you when it's sorted out."

"Bye."

Mr Smith's screen blanked off and she sighed, sitting back. "Anthropology."

"It is true that Luke's understanding of physics is beyond the level taught at Oxford."

"Well, yes, we knew it would be. That's not the point of college. Or, not all the point, anyway."

"Oh? And what is the point?"

"It's to experience new things, see the world differently. Make new friends and have your heart broken and run off to save the world."

"Luke has already saved the world many times."

"Yes." She smiled faintly. "Yes, he has."

 

Anthro, Luke was rapidly discovering, was very, very different from physics.

It was strange having to work at something like this. He'd coasted through school; that was partly why Sarah Jane had allowed him to study with Mr Smith, because she knew full well that school wasn't challenging him. His talents lay with numbers and logic and science, though, and the humanities had always been his weak spot. That was partly why he'd chosen this course, of course, to challenge himself.

Two weeks in Mr Giles asked him to stop by for a follow up session. He'd been very helpful, sourcing texts and dealing with several of his teachers. He'd even helped Luke with one of the linguistics assignments.

Mr Giles' office door was closed when Luke got there. He tapped lightly, waiting for the distracted "Come in!" before pushing the door open. "Am I early, Mr Giles?" he asked.

"Luke. No, no, come in." Mr Giles waved him in. "Do you know Dawn? She's in your linguistics class."

"Yes. Nice to see you." He grinned at her.

"Giles wants to set up study groups," she told him. "He thinks you might teach me how to actually study."

Luke noted the American accent with surprise – he'd never heard her talk before, as she didn't usually volunteer in class. "And you could actually teach me something?" Dawn glanced at Mr Giles, and Luke shook his head. "Languages are hard for me. It's not a secret. I'd like to join a group, I just haven't seen any advertised."

"Great. Here..." She scribbled her number on a post it. "Call me, day after tomorrow, and we'll set something up, ok?"

"Yes. Thank you." He took the paper, memorising the number at a glance. "Thank you, Mr Giles," he added.

"You're welcome, Luke. I hope it's a help to you."

 

Dawn relaxed as Luke left, closing the door behind him. "Well?" she asked, circling the desk.

Giles carefully placed the crystal on the desk. It was glowing a deep blue. "Mystical, but no hostile intentions."

"Currently." Dawn considered the crystal. "What kind of mystical?"

"It's not that specific."

"That's your job," a new voice added.

Dawn grimaced, switching Giles' computer monitor on. "Thanks, Willow. Just what I needed."

"Aw, you'll be fine. Remember, you've got backup."

"Yes, my professors love my backup."

Giles smiled faintly. "Slayers tend to get that reaction."

"He's not hostile," Willow added. "Don't challenge him and you'll be fine."

"Aren't there any actual evil people I could be focusing on?"

"No." 

Grinning, Willow said brightly, "Maybe he'll turn out to be the leader of a crazy cult!"

"Yay," Dawn said, deadpan. "I gotta go. I'll check in, Willow."

"Don't get eaten by anything!" Willow called cheerfully. Dawn grinned, letting herself out of the office.

 

Luke dutifully called Dawn two days later and they arranged to meet in a coffee shop to compare schedules. "What's going to work for you, Luke?" Dawn asked, sipping her coffee. "Weekly, fortnightly...?"

"Weekly, I suppose. I don't want to fall behind."

"You're not falling behind, trust me." She studied him for a moment. "You know, I had you pegged as a physics nerd. No offense."

"None taken. You don't look much like an ancient languages scholar."

Dawn grinned. "I work on it. No physics? I was really sure."

"Physics is easy. It's just learning stuff off. I want to understand."

"Understand what?"

"Everything." She choked a little and he grinned. "Yeah, that's more or less how my friends reacted as well. They think everything is a bit much, so I'm going to start lower."

"With what?"

"People. Anthropology, a bit of history and languages."

"People," she repeated.

"People are really complicated. I'm not – I miss social cues sometimes – and there's all this cultural and historical stuff and it all means things. I want to understand that."

"And you decided knowing ancient Sanskrit would help with that?"

"I didn't get a choice on which languages to learn." He shrugged, staring into his cup. "Maths and physics and science, they're easy for me. People are really hard. So are languages, I don't know why."

"It's annoying when you can't learn something that easily, isn't it?" Dawn said, grinning. "Look, I've got an hour now. Have you got today's notes? We'll have a look and see if we can figure out where you're going wrong."

 

Dawn, it turned out, was a really good teacher. She was smart and funny, and she managed to figure out his problem within three meetings.

"You're treating it like it's math. Like there's one perfect answer and everything else has to be wrong. Something like this..." She waved the piece he was attempting to translate. "It's about context as much as it is meaning. What have you got so far?"

Luke studied his crossed–out, rewritten, scribbled over notes. "It's a love poem."

"Right. But you're choosing all the formal, official meanings. This isn't an official document, it's a kid telling another kid how he feels. Or not telling, but still. Think more MTV, less Official Senate Hearing." Luke blinked at her, and she grimaced. "More colloquial, less formal."

"How long since you left America?" He scrapped his notes, starting over.

"Hmm? Oh...two, almost three years. I was in Italy for a while with my sister, then I was travelling around. Europe, mostly. Then we decided it was time I got an education, and Giles suggested Oxford since he was coming here anyway, so..."

"You know Mr Giles? I mean, you knew him before?"

"Yeah. My sister works for this company who set up boarding schools for girls, all over the world, and Giles is on the board. That's what we were doing in Europe, setting up in Italy and then travelling around looking at applicants."

"Sounds like fun. I'd love to travel, maybe when I graduate."

"You should have taken a gap year. They do that here, right? Watch it, that's the wrong meaning there. Aren't you here a year early? You should have taken one off."

"I thought about it. But this is where I want to be right now." He held up his translation, grinning. "How's that?"

Dawn scanned over it, smiling. "That's brilliant. Much better. Well done."

"Thanks." He sighed, reaching for the next piece.

"Nu–uh." Dawn took the book away from him. "You got one right. Celebratory ice cream is required."

"Is that a rule?"

"It is in my sessions. Stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes. No more studying!"

Luke watched idly as Dawn paused by a nearby table to talk to the girl sitting there. He vaguely recognised her – he thought she was in another of his classes. He hadn't realised Dawn knew her. The pair talked quietly for a moment before Dawn went on and the girl packed up her books and left in a different direction.

Dawn was back a few minutes later with milkshakes. "The librarian glared at me when I tried to bring in ice creams," she complained. "Vanilla or chocolate?"

"Vanilla. Thank you. I didn't realise you knew Rachel."

"Who?"

He gestured towards the now–empty chair. "She's in one of my archaeology classes. Rachel."

"Oh. She's here on a scholarship from Buffy's foundation. There's a few of them around, I know most of them. Tend to stop to say hello when I see them, make sure they're ok."

"Oh. That's kind of you."

She shrugged. "Saves time when Buffy calls. She usually asks about them. They're supposed to go to Giles with problems, but some things it's easier for a girl to talk to another girl about."

"I...suppose, yes."

She studied him for a minute before grinning and putting her milkshake aside. "Right. Verb review. Come on." Luke groaned, turning back to his book. "Come on, you get this right, you can come over for pizza night. You need to get out more."

"I go out with Sanjay and the guys all the time!"

"You need to go out with cool people. Come on."

 

Ten weeks in, Luke missed a study session.

It wasn't like him; he'd been late a couple of times, but he was scrupulous about calling to tell her if he was running late. This time there was absolutely nothing.

Dawn gave him fifteen minutes and then called him. The call disconnected after one ring. Frowning, she tried again and got the same result.

Right. So he was getting her calls, but refusing to talk to her. Dawn couldn't think of a reason for that; they'd been getting on really well so far. Sighing, she made a quick call to Giles to get Luke's housing information and set off.

Someone she met in the hall told her that as far as he knew Luke was in his room. "He was talking to his friends back home earlier when I went past, and I haven't seen him come out." Dawn thanked him and knocked lightly on Luke's door.

There was silence inside for several moments, until a robotic voice said, "Master, someone is at the door." Luke muttered something Dawn couldn't make out; the robot voice insisted, "Someone is at the door, Master." Dawn emphasised the words by knocking again, more loudly.

"Go away!" Luke called.

"Luke, it's Dawn. What's wrong?"

"Nothing! I can't come today. I'll talk to you later."

"I'm not going anywhere," she warned him. "I'm just going to stand out here and yell until you let me in."

Luke was silent for a moment before muttering something under his breath. "All right, fine. Come in. But I really can't study right now."

He was sitting in front of his computer, watching it closely. Dawn stepped around behind him to look; it was a webcam view of a room. She couldn't make out much. "What's wrong?"

"The Mistress is missing."

She jumped, turning to see a robot dog in a corner. "What the hell..."

"K9," Luke said apathetically. "K9, Dawn."

"Greetings, Mistress Dawn."

"You have a robot dog?"

"He's my mum's. He was a present from...a friend of hers." Luke leaned forward, studying the screen, and then sat back again.

"Nice to meet you, K9." She dropped onto the bed behind Luke. "Tell me what's going on?"

"I was talking to my mum and my friends, on the webcam." He gestured to the screen. "And then there were – sirens, out on the street, and they all ran off to see what was happening. They haven't come back, and now they're not answering their phones. I don't know what's happening."

"Is there a neighbour, someone you can check with?"

He shook his head. "The only number I have is for my old headmaster, he lives over the road and his daughter's one of my best friends. But he'll be at school. I don't know who else to try."

"All right. Well, you could always go home. It's not that far and you don't have classes today."

Luke bit his lip for a moment before shaking his head. "No. It's probably nothing. I'm sure it's nothing."

"Right," Dawn agreed. "Want me to stick around?"

"I'm not good company."

"That's all right. I'll just read...something." She studied his shelves, mostly filled with textbooks. "I'm sure there's something to read here."

She dug out a novel eventually – a sci fi book by Sarah Jane Smith, and she'd have to ask Luke about that later – and settled down to read it. Luke sat at the computer, watching intently.

It was almost twenty minute later when something happened; the door just visible through the screen banged open and people streamed through. Dawn kept her eyes on the book, listening intently.

"Clyde." Luke sounded so relieved. "What's going on, is everyone all right?"

"Yeah, not sure yet. UNIT are here, they...oh, didn't realise you had company."

Dawn glanced up as Luke looked over his shoulder at her. "Dawn. I missed our study session, she came to make sure I was ok."

"Right. Well, there's some kind of problem with your mum's friend, Doctor What's–his–name. Colonel Karim came to talk to Mum about it. Luke, I have to turn the camera off. Rani and I aren't even supposed to be hearing this."

"Clyde, you call me back the second you can, yeah?"

"Promise."

The screen went dark and Dawn sat up. "I could've left."

"Nah, they wouldn't've let the conversation be broadcast anyway. Not secure." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "Thanks for waiting with me."

"It's fine. Who's UNIT?"

"Oh, they're a division of the British Army. My mum worked with one of their scientific advisors for a while when she was young. He's not available anymore, so when something do to with his cases comes up she sometimes gets called in. It's not a big deal."

"Right. Well, I hope her doctor friend is all right."

"Me too. He usually is."

"Bye, K9. I'll talk to you later, Luke. Call me if there's anything I can do, will you?"

"I will. Thanks, Dawn."

She waited until she was outside the building to ring Giles. "Giles, I might have something. See what you can find out about UNIT." Lifting the book to study the cover, she added, "And Sarah Jane Smith."

 

The day before their next meeting Dawn texted Luke to ask him if they could meet at her home instead in the library as usual. Dawn lived off campus and Luke hadn't been there before, but it wasn't hard to find.

Luke blinked when a strange boy around his age opened Dawn's door. "Yes?"

"Is Dawn in?" he asked politely.

"Yes." The boy leaned against the door frame, studying him openly.

Luke put up with it for eighteen and a half seconds before asking, "May I talk to her?"

"Dawn!" The boy didn't bother to turn, still staring at him.

"Thank you." Luke let him keep staring, standing patiently.

"Connor!" Dawn smacked the boy on the shoulder, shoving him back towards the room. He rocked with the blow but didn't actually move. "I warned you about being a freak with my friends."

Turning to Luke, she said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I meant to open the door, but he's freaky fast. Luke, this is Connor; he's my sister's ex–boyfriend's..."

"Brother," Connor said over whatever Dawn was about to say. "It's nice to meet you, Luke, Dawn talks a lot about you."

"She never mentions you," Luke said in the same light tone, knowing he'd take it for a joke. Connor grinned, finally pushing off the doorframe and wandering into the room.

"He knows we're studying, he's promised to be good," Dawn said, gesturing Luke in. "He just sort of turned up, I'm sorry."

"He just sort of turned up from LA?"

"LA?" Connor repeated, sprawling into the seat in front of Dawn's desk. "I thought Dawn didn't talk about me?"

"She doesn't." Luke settled on the floor by the bed, digging into his bag for his books.

"Then how do you know where I come from?"

"Your accent. And your..." He gestured loosely.

"My..." Connor repeated the gesture.

"Everything."

"Luke's an amateur sleuth." Dawn dropped on her bed, sitting between them. "He likes to study people and figure them out. He's probably guessed from the type of shoe you're wearing and your brand of hair gel."

"I don't use gel, that's my...Angel."

"Buffy's boyfriend," Dawn told Luke. "Connor, hush. Do your – whatever it is that you're doing. We've got a project to finish up."

Connor scowled, turning to the desk and starting to work on something. Luke watched Dawn, waiting for her cue; when she picked up his book and started scribbling, he did the same.

Some time later Luke realised that Connor was leaning over him, offering him a soft drink. "Oh – thanks," he said distractedly, taking it and then forgetting to put it down while he chased a thought.

"That's wrong," Connor said, pointing to one line.

"Connor," Dawn said warningly.

"I'm serious. Look, I saw...in Angel's office, they were working on that, a while ago. Just come and look."

Dawn leaned over, studying the line. "Luke, can I see this?"

Luke passed it up, watching as the two bent over it. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Connor said absently. "Here..." He passed the book back down. "You're using the wrong tense there. Look at it again."

"I hate tenses," Luke muttered, accepting it back and scribbling a note. "Like that?"

"Perfect." Dawn grinned at him. "See, you're getting better at this."

"What does Angel do that they were translating Sumerian in his office?" Luke asked idly, scribbling out another line.

He glanced up at the sudden silence; Connor and Dawn were looking frantically at each other. "He's a lawyer," Connor said finally.

"A lawyer who reads Ancient Sumerian?"

"One of the lawyers in his firm was reading it. It's sort of his hobby, ancient languages."

"Oh." Luke shrugged, leaning back over his translation.

 

Connor caught Dawn's eye, frowning very slightly. _Did he buy that?_

Dawn shrugged. _Apparently._

Connor grinned, settling back into his seat. He'd heard about Luke, but meeting him in person was something else.

"Oh, Luke, I meant to ask. What happened with your mom's friend?"

"What?" Luke looked up, eyes distant for a moment before he refocused. "Oh. Um, nothing. He was fine. All a misunderstanding. He was just stranded, out of contact for a while."

Connor frowned, staring at his paper. That was a lie, or partly. "What's that?"

"There was some problem with his mother's friend," Dawn explained. "He used to work for the British Army and they came to ask his mother about it."

"Lot of effort for a mistake," Connor said neutrally.

"Yeah, they seem to like him. Dawn, I think I'm stuck right here." He shifted over, pointing out a line that Connor had seen him translate without effort five minutes ago.

Dawn ran through the translation with him anyway, and when they were done Luke tidied his papers together. "I should be going."

"It's early," Dawn pointed out.

"I know. I have things to do. I'll see you in class. Nice to meet you, Connor."

"Luke, wait." Dawn chased him out. "Connor's...he's just..."

"It's fine."

"He's usually nicer."

"Dawn." Luke caught her hand. "It's really fine. I've dealt with a lot ruder people."

"He won't be with us next time."

He squeezed her hand gently. "I hope not." Letting go, he jogged away.

"Luke!"

He turned, catching the pen that came flying at his head. "You forgot that!" Connor called helpfully. Luke glanced at it for a moment before shrugging and sticking it in his pocket.

Connor was leaning against the doorframe when Dawn turned around. "I could have stayed inside if you wanted privacy," he offered.

"Why are you here again?"

Connor grinned. "What, aren't you happy to see me?"

"Ecstatic. Can't you tell?" She pushed past him back into the house.

"You know he was lying."

"What?"

Connor followed her, idly gathering up his drawings. "About his mother's friend. Or, partly lying, anyway."

"How can you tell?"

"I am very good at what I do."

She considered for a moment. "His mother has a friend who was in trouble. Luke wasn't pretending to be worried."

"Maybe."

Dawn made a face at him. "You have no faith in humanity! Where does this cynicism come from? I've met your parents, remember."

"He's _not_ human."

"Maybe. We're still getting mixed results on the spells." 

"No." Connor shook his head. "He couldn't have caught that pen."

"You're sure?"

"I'd have had trouble. I didn't give him enough time, and he can't have heard it."

Dawn grimaced. "Better let Giles know. God, this means you're never leaving me alone, doesn't it?"

"I could be his tutor."

"You don't even go here!"

"No, but I speak pretty good Sumerian."

"Get out."

Grinning, he retreated, leaving her to make the call.

 

Luke came home from an afternoon out with Sanjay to find Dawn sprawled in the hall outside his room, cheerfully ignoring the looks she was getting. "You took your time."

"What are you doing here?" He had to lean over her to unlock the door. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I came to rock your world, big boy."

Down the hall, Tony walked into a door frame. Luke glanced over at him, irritated, and back down at Dawn. "You..."

She rolled her eyes, holding out a hand. "Connor's driving me insane. I need somewhere to hide for a while. Where've you been?"

"Out with Sanjay." He hauled her to her feet. "What's he doing?"

"Just being really annoying. Can I stay here for a while? Please?"

"I have work..."

"I won't get in your way. I'll be really quiet. Please?" She clasped her hands together, batting her eyebrows at him.

"That's not cute, you know."

"I am the epitome of cute. Please?"

Sanjay's door opened and he stuck his head out. "Let her in or send her home, Luke, but get her out of the corridor." A chorus of agreement rose from several other rooms; Luke, blushing, opened the door and ushered her in.

"Thank you. I promise, I'll be super quiet. Hey, K9. How're you?"

"This unit is operating at maximum efficiency, mistress."

"Good to know." She dropped onto the bed.

Luke pulled a book from a pile on the desk, flicking through it. "There's some stuff in the fridge if you're hungry. I'm sorry, I really have to get this done."

"It's cool. I'll amuse myself over here. Can I talk to K9?"

Luke bit his lip. "Better not. He gets cranky without enough rest."

"Master Luke..." K9 started.

"Rest, K9," Luke said firmly. K9 obediently powered down.

Dawn dug Sarah Jane's novel out of her bag and settled herself against the wall at the base of the bed. She was aware of Luke glancing over to check on her several times, but she kept her eyes on the book and eventually he became absorbed in his work.

 

Luke stretched, surprised at how stiff he was. He hadn't meant to work so long, but with the ending in sight he'd just ploughed on through.

"K9," he said softly, "are you awake?" K9's eyes 'opened' but he didn't speak. "Are you angry with me?" Luke asked, amused. "I just don't want Dawn to figure out you're anything other than a toy. And she will if she actually talks to you. You're too brilliant to be a toy."

K9 considered that for a moment. "Logic unarguable," he said finally.

"Good dog."

He glanced over at the bed; Dawn was asleep, curled into a ball at the end of the bed. "How long has she been asleep?"

"Mistress Dawn fell asleep approximately point eight three hours ago."

"About fifty minutes," Luke translated. Sighing, he got to his feet.

He managed to get Dawn lying more comfortably without actually waking her. Snagging a pillow and spare blanket, he settled on the floor.

"Master Luke, you will be uncomfortable," K9 said quietly.

"It's only for one night, K9. It's fine."

K9 whirred for a moment. "Goodnight, Master Luke."

"Goodnight, K9."

 

The phone woke Luke in the morning. He was moving before he even realised it, trying to get to the phone before it woke Dawn.

"Hey! I thought you were going to meet me!"

"Clyde." Luke flopped back onto his makeshift bed, rubbing his forehead. "Sorry. I overslept."

"You, overslept? Is the world coming to an end? Or have you just learned how to be a real college student?"

"Shut up. Can you amuse yourself for a few minutes? I'm on my way."

"Yeah, yeah, take your time. I'm having fun down here."

Luke grinned, hanging up and looking around for his clothes.

"S'wrong?"

"Nothing," he said quietly. "My friend Clyde. He's coming for a visit and I slept it out."

"Oh." She sat up, frowning at herself. "I fell asleep?"

"Yeah. Sorry, you're probably uncomfortable in your clothes, but I didn't want..."

"It's all good." She sank back into the bed. 

Luke hesitated at the door. "I have to go..."

"Go." One hand emerged, waving vaguely. "I'm getting up. Promise. Thanks for letting me stay."

"It's fine. You should talk to Connor, though."

"Yeah. Will. Go meet your friend."

Luke nodded and left, pulling the door quietly closed behind him.

 

Clyde was waiting in the quad, admiring some students as they passed by. Luke grinned at the sight. It was refreshingly normal.

"Hey!" Clyde bounced to his feet, slapping his shoulder companionably. "What's with sleeping in?"

"Late night, finishing a project. Come on." He showed Clyde some of the sights, ending up back at his room almost an hour after leaving it.

"How scared should I be?" Clyde asked, eyeing the door.

"What?"

"Well, it's a college student's lair. How creepy is it?"

"It's not a lair. K9's the weirdest thing in here. Promise." He clicked the door open – Dawn mustn't have locked it – and stepped aside to let Clyde in first.

Clyde took two steps in, paused, and backed up, crowding Luke back into the hall.

"What?" Luke asked, rubbing the shin Clyde had kicked in his haste.

"There's a girl in your bed!" Clyde hissed. "Luke, the college experience is one thing, but..."

"Dawn."

"What?"

"Dawn," Luke repeated. "She's hiding out. She was supposed to be gone by now."

"Luke, there's a girl in your bed!"

Luke shrugged. "She turned up last night looking for somewhere to hide."

"Hide from what?"

"Her sister's ex–boyfriend's brother." He grinned at the look on Clyde's face. "I know. He's staying with her and he's been...I don't know. But she just wanted away from him. She fell asleep on my bed and I didn't want to throw her out. That's all."

"Nothing...else?"

"Nothing else," Luke assured him. "I slept on the floor. Come on, can we get out of the hall, please?"

"Yeah. I guess." Clyde threw him a strange look, slipping into the room.

Luke leaned over the bed, eyeing Dawn carefully. "Dawn? Wake up. It's late."

"Am awake," she mumbled. "I thought you were leaving."

"I did. I'm back. So's Clyde."

"Clyde...? Clyde!" Bolting awake, she sat upright. "I'm sorry!"

"It's all right," Luke assured her.

Dawn blinked, looking around. Luke's blanket and pillow were still on the floor. "Luke, did you sleep on the floor?"

"Yes."

"Oh." She rubbed a hand through her hair. "Hi. Dawn."

"Clyde. Nice to – see you."

She glanced down at herself. "I'm fully dressed. Was that supposed to be innuendo?"

"What? I...no..."

Luke laughed softly, raising both hands innocently when they glared at him. "Sorry. Something in my throat."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Clyde agreed darkly. "So, Dawn, how do you know Luke?"

"Ancient languages study group."

"Sounds like a blast."

Dawn stood, gathering up her things. "Thanks for letting me stay, Luke."

"Dawn." Luke glanced at Clyde, who immediately struck up a loud conversation with K9. "Is Connor..."

"Not at all," she said over him. "Just being really annoying. He thinks he's my big brother or something. That's all. Thanks for letting me stay."

"You're sure?"

"Definitely."

Someone banged on Luke's door, hard enough to rattle it in its frame. Everyone jumped, turning to look at it.

"Dawn!"

"Connor," Luke and Dawn chorused together. Dawn rolled her eyes, flopping onto the bed.

"What's going on?" Clyde asked.

"Connor's here looking for Dawn," Luke explained, eyeing the door as it shuddered again.

"Defence mode, Master Luke?" K9 suggested.

"No! Weapons offline, K9. This isn't a fight."

"Wanna bet?" Dawn muttered. Blinking, she added, "Weapons? What kind of toy is he?"

"The kind with weapons, obviously," Clyde said brightly. "Luke, maybe you should let him in? You don't want to get kicked out for a disturbance, after all."

"Yeah." Luke sighed, raising his voice. "It's open!"

There was a long pause before Connor stalked in, managing somehow not to look sheepish for trying to break down an unlocked door. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, eyes falling on Dawn. Tilting his head, he added, "Did you _sleep_ here?"

"Yes."

"With _him_?"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "He slept on the _floor_ , Connor. Caveman much? This is why I didn't come home last night!"

"With _Luke_?"

"Hey," Luke protested, feeling vaguely that he ought to be insulted. He was almost sure this wasn't about him, really, but still.

"I like Luke! He's sweet and nice and funny, and he let me crash here without asking for an explanation. All he asked was if you were hurting me..."

" _What_?" Connor demanded.

"You did just break into Luke's room to accuse him of taking advantage," Clyde pointed out.

"Who are you? Never mind, I don't care. Dawn, you couldn't have gone to Rachel, or Susan? Someone we _know_?"

Dawn folded her arms, glaring at him. "It's none of your business who I spend the night with!"

Clyde choked, waving Luke off when he went to help. "Just swallowed the wrong way..." he gasped, hacking melodramatically.

"Dawn," Connor protested.

"I can take care of myself." She caught his eye. "I trust Luke."

"Good to know," Connor muttered. "Are you coming home now?"

"I have class."

"You missed class," Luke murmured. "I did wake you."

"Yeah, you did." She sighed. "Look, Connor, I've already got Giles and the girls watching me all the time. I don't need it from you as well, ok? I appreciate it, but I don't need it."

"That's what you think. Do you know what Buffy threatened me with if I let anything happen to you?"

"An afternoon with Andrew?"

"An afternoon with Andrew and _all_ his Star Trek DVDs."

"Ouch. Ok, I see your point. But nothing's going to happen to me here."

Connor eyed Luke. "Yeah?"

Dawn nodded, tugging his arm until he leaned down so she could stage whisper, "His dog has weapons systems."

Connor threw up his hands, giving in. "Well, if it has weapons systems, that's clearly all we need to worry about." Frowning, he added, "The dog?"

"K9?" Clyde said, grinning.

K9 trundled forward, laser aiming straight at Connor. "Weapons armed, Master Luke."

"Put that away, K9!" Luke said firmly. "I told you already."

"Weapons system disarming," K9 said reluctantly.

"Good dog. Power down, please."

"Hostile intentions..."

"Power down!"

K9 wandered back into the corner, powering down. Clyde grinned, dropping into the desk chair to eye everyone.

"K9's a toy," Luke explained quickly. "A bit – glitchy sometimes."

"He looks it," Connor agreed. "Dawn?"

Dawn folded her arms, studying him. "Are you going to stop telling me what to do?"

"I'm...yes."

"That sounded like a no," Clyde sing–songed.

"Clyde!" Luke hissed. "We're trying to get them _out_ of my room!"

"Are we? How are we doing that?"

"By not poking fun at them!"

Clyde grinned, swinging on the chair. Looking at Connor, he asked, "Did you actually think Luke had done anything with Dawn?"

Connor folded his arms. "What if I did?"

Clyde laughed, and Connor lifted an eyebrow. "What's up with him? Actually, who is he?"

"Clyde, my best mate. Clyde, Connor's Dawn's – I dunno."

"Frenemy," Dawn suggested. "Why are you laughing, Clyde?"

"I'm sorry, but this is funny from my side of it. If you knew Luke like I do, you'd be seeing the funny side too." He thumped Luke lightly on the shoulder.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Luke protested.

"You're a bit..." He swallowed whatever he'd been about to say. "Above things like that."

"I got my first kiss before you did!"

"And what've you done since then?"

"What have you done other than follow Rani around?"

Clyde spluttered before managing "What're you...that's not...Rani's my mate!"

Dawn laughed, catching Connor's arm to haul herself to her feet. "Come on. We'd better leave them to sort this out."

"Right." Connor glanced at Luke. "See you around, I guess."

"Yeah. Dawn, call me later."

"I will. Thanks, Luke." She caught his shoulder, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. "There's another one ahead of him," she said with a grin.

"What, that? Please! I have way more than that!" Clyde huffed.

Dawn grinned, heading out.

"Connor," Luke said quickly. "I wouldn't...I didn't ever..."

"Yeah." Connor studied him for a moment before relaxing. "I know. We're good. Just – call me, if she does this again? Dawn's got a history of overreacting. Let me know?"

"I will."

The door closed behind him and Luke flopped onto the bed, draping one arm over his eyes. The bed creaked as Clyde settled beside him.

"So. Is it always this exciting here at Oxford?"


	3. Chapter Three

Dawn ignored Connor all the way back to her house. Annoyingly, he didn't seem the slightest bit bothered, wandering along beside her with his hands shoved into his pockets.

Back at the house she attempted to storm off to her room, but he blocked her path. "Nu–uh. Council meeting in the sitting room."

"Connor Angel Reilly, if I walk in and there's _anyone_ in there..."

"No one's here. It's all on the computer."

Dawn eyed the door to the living room. "Have they all been hanging out on the computer while you've been embarrassing me in front of my friends?"

"Friends? You've never even met Clyde before!"

"Not the point, Connor."

He shook his head. "I texted them on the way here. They're waiting now."

She grimaced, wandering into the living room and dropping into a chair in view of the computer. "I want to complain about Connor," she announced.

"Maybe later," Willow said sympathetically. "Right now, UNIT."

"What about them?"

"They aren't Army," Xander told her. "Hey, Dawnie."

"Hey. Who are they, then?"

"UNIT deal with alien invasions."

"Aliens?" Dawn rolled her eyes. "Right. Whatever."

"We have met aliens," Xander reminded her. "Well, alien."

"From the _moon_. Not the kind of thing a billion dollar organization worry about."

"They're probably finding demons and just think they're aliens," Connor agreed.

"Either way, Dawn, not someone you want to get mixed up with," Xander told her.

"Oh, come on! The parent of one guy I know used to work for them! It's not like I walked up to their front door or anything."

"Speaking of the guy." Xander folded his arms, studying her. "Did you really spend the night with him?"

Dawn thumped Connor, ignoring his smirk. "In his room. Not with him. Connor won't give me five seconds alone."

"He's not supposed to, sweetie, he's your bodyguard."

"And generally, one doesn't run from a bodyguard straight to the guy he's body guarding you from."

Dawn shrugged. "Luke's not dangerous."

"You don't know that, Dawnie," Willow protested.

"I do know it. Luke's not dangerous, he's just a sweet boy."

"A sweet non human boy," Connor reminded her.

"Half the people you grew up with weren't human!"

"Most of them tried to kill me at one point or another. What's your point?"

"Lorne didn't."

"Lorne didn't look human, Dawn."

"So because Luke _doesn't_ look like a demon, he's evil?" Connor grimaced, and Dawn grinned triumphantly.

"Is she always like this?" Connor demanded towards the screen.

"Pretty much," Xander told him.

"Sometimes worse," Willow agreed.

"Love you too," Dawn said firmly. "Don't call me. Bye." She leaned forward, flicking the screen off.

"Dawn..." Connor said warily.

"He's not dangerous. You can't tell me you've sensed the slightest bit of danger from him."

"He's not human..."

"And you're not that blinkered. He's just a kid here to study. Leave him alone, Connor, I mean it."

"Or?"

"Or I'll tell Rachel how much you love to practise sparring with them."

Connor grimaced. "All right, fine. If I back off, will you start being careful? At least tell me where you're going? Please?"

Dawn grimaced but nodded. "Yes. I will start telling you where I'm going."

"Thank you."

 

 

Luke managed to avoid telling Clyde anything else about Dawn or Connor for the weekend, mostly by keeping him so busy seeing 'the sights' that he didn't have time to do anything else. He knew Clyde well enough to know that as soon as he got back Mr Smith would be searching, though, so as soon as he'd seen Clyde off he hurried back to his room. "K9, can you connect me to Mr Smith please?"

"Connecting."

"Thank you." Luke waited patiently until Mr Smith said "Luke. How can I help you?"

"Mr Smith, Clyde's just left me."

"I shall relay that."

"When he gets home, I'm pretty sure he's going to ask you to investigate one of my classmates. Any chance you could lose the request?"

"Your classmate?" Mr Smith repeated. "Would that be Dawn Summers?"

Luke blinked. "Mr Smith..."

"She was on the screen when UNIT came here about the Doctor. And you have mentioned her several times. I have already investigated her background. Do you wish to see my findings?"

"No, and I don't want you to show Clyde, either. Please?"

Mr Smith was silent for a long moment. "Very well. I will keep her information private."

"Thank you."

"Luke, there is information that you should perhaps..."

"She'll tell me if it's important. Thanks, Mr Smith."

K9 cut the connection and Luke sighed, sitting down. "You haven't been poking around her records, have you, K9?"

"I can if you wish me to, Master."

"No. I want you to leave it alone."

"Orders received, Master."

"Good dog."

 

A few weekends later Sarah Jane arrived for a visit, bringing Sky. Luke greeted them both cheerfully at the gate, wandering across the green with them and pointing out various sights. It was a beautiful day and students and faculty were wandering around, enjoying the sunshine. Luke greeted a few of them, waving at them.

"Mr Giles! Mum, you've got to meet him."

"I'd love to." Sky tripped over her laces and Sarah Jane turned, distracted.

"Mum, this is Mr Giles. Mr Giles, my mother, Sarah Jane Smith."

She turned, smiling, and then tensed, pulling Sky back a step or two. "You!"

"I'm sorry?" He paused, one hand half raised.

"Mum," Luke said warily. Touching Sky's shoulder, he eased her a couple of steps away from the two adults. "It's Mr Giles. I've told you about him."

"Is anything wrong?" Mr Giles asked. He hadn't moved, one hand still extended.

"No." Sarah Jane rubbed absently at her wrist before shaking his hand firmly. "Forgive me. You look very like another man I knew."

"Ah. Well, I would certainly remember meeting you. We're very proud of Luke."

"Yes, he does seem to be flourishing. Oh, this is my daughter, Sky."

"Pleasure to meet you. I hope I'll see you here in a few years. Luke, Dawn tells me you have a review session later?"

"Yes sir, exams coming up."

"Excellent. Well, I hope to see you again, Sky, Mrs Smith."

"Miss Smith. Likewise." She shook his hand again and he headed away.

Luke glanced down at her wrist, reading the scanner easily. "No alien traces. I did check. What's wrong?"

"He looks exactly like Finch."

"Finch. From Deffery Vale? Mr Giles was in America then. Mum, K9 checks for alien activity all the time. I promise, nothing's wrong."

"Even his voice is the same."

"Well, Finch might have copied his pattern. Come on. Lots more to show you before I abandon you."

 

 

"So I heard your mom freaked out on Giles."

Luke made a face at his book. "She did not."

"Not the way it's going around campus."

"What are you even doing here, Connor?"

"I studied this stuff last year. Figured I could help." He settled opposite Luke at the table; one eyebrow went up when he noticed Sky. "Kind of short for a student, aren't you?"

"Connor, my sister Sky, she's visiting. Sky, Connor is Dawn's friend, he's visiting her." Not quite under his breath, he muttered, "For the last six months." He liked Connor well enough, but his visit just kept going and going with no end in sight.

"Starting her out young, aren't you?"

"She's just here for the day."

"Are you from America?" Sky asked, wide–eyed. Luke hid a grin; Sky's 'bright eyed and innocent' act was occasionally their best weapon. "Have you ever been to Disneyworld? I really, really want to go there. And Oceanworld. My mum says maybe we can go to Eurodisney for my birthday, but I really want to go to America. I don't speak French. Have you ever been? We could meet Maria, too, if we went to America."

"Maria lives in Washington," Luke reminded her. Connor was looking slightly glazed and it was all Luke could do to keep from bursting into laughter.

"How long since you've seen her?" Connor jumped on the new topic with relief.

"We chat online, and stuff, but...four years."

"Long time."

"What's America like?" Sky asked.

"Not like Toy Story," Luke told her. "Where's Dawn, Connor?"

"Defending your mom's honour. She'll be along."

"Defending what?"

"It just means someone's making fun of mum and Dawn's standing up for her." Luke shoved his books into a pile. "Stay here, ok? I won't be long."

"Where are you going?" Connor asked. Luke gestured vaguely and he laughed. "You think she needs help?"

Luke considered it for a moment. "No, I suppose not."

"You're learning. Sit down and show me where you're at."

"Sky, do you want anything before we start? We'll probably be a couple of hours."

"I am a little bit thirsty."

Luke dug into his pocket, but Connor got there first, dumping a handful of coins on the table. "There. Vending machine right over there." He pointed across the green.

"Come straight back, Sky, ok?" Luke said, flipping through his book.

"Yes, I know." She rolled her eyes, scooping up the coins. "Thank you," she added to Connor.

"No problem." He watched her go, frowning.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked.

"Nothing. Your sister?"

"Adopted. We both are."

"Huh."

He was still watching when Sky came back, passing cans to each of them. "I kind of guessed," she said apologetically to Connor. "I didn't know what you'd like."

"That's fine. Thanks." He took the can, rolling it between his hands.

Sky pulled out her own book and started reading. Luke and Connor were deep in revision when Dawn showed up; Sky introduced herself, since Luke didn't seem to have noticed.

"Nice to meet you." Dawn shook her hand, one eyebrow going up.

Connor was watching when she looked at the boys; he nodded briefly. "Took you long enough."

"I was busy."

Luke surfaced, blinking at her. "I heard. Thank you."

"Eh. Boys being stupid I can handle. Connor, got a second?"

"Yeah." He passed his book to Luke, standing to follow Dawn to the vending machine.

"What's up with the girl?" Dawn whispered.

"You felt it too?"

"Yeah. What is it?"

"I don't know. It's kind of the way Luke feels."

"Weird family."

"Mmm."

Dawn eyed him. "Dangerous?"

"I don't think so. It's hard to tell."

"We talked about this."

"You talked about it. I nodded. I'll agree Luke doesn't seem interested in hurting anyone, but we don't know anything about Sky."

"We know she's twelve."

"We know she _looks_ twelve."

"Suspicious!" Dawn turned away, going back to join Luke and Sky at the table. "Where's your mom now, Luke? I'd like to meet her."

"She went to talk to a source out in the town. She'll be back later on."

"Multi tasking, hmm?"

"Yeah, she's good that way."

"Sky, you think you'll come here in a few years?"

"I don't know. It looks brilliant, but I haven't decided what I want to do yet."

"Plenty of time." Dawn glanced over her shoulder. "Are you coming, Connor?"

Connor scowled, pushing away from the vending machine and dropping to sit next to her. "Shove over. What are you working on?"

Dawn pushed the book towards him. "This is your speciality, not mine."

"What is it?" Sky asked, leaning over Luke's arm to study his book.

"Sociology."

"What's sociology?"

"It's sort of about people and how they act together, and how they make societies and cultures. It's really interesting."

Sky wrinkled her nose. "If you say so."

Dawn grinned. "Yeah, it's not my favourite either. It's important, though."

"If you say so," Sky repeated. "I'm just going to read my book."

"You could have gone with Mum, Sky High," Luke reminded her.

"Even more boring. I'm fine."

He grinned at her, leaning over his book. "You studied this, Connor?"

"Last year."

"Great. Explain this to me."

 

Sky glanced up some time later, frowning. "Luke, it's getting dark. Shouldn't Mum be back by now?"

Luke glanced around and then at his watch. "Um. Not quite yet. It gets dark early here, all the buildings." Looking around again, he added, "We probably should go inside, though. It's getting cold."

Dawn and Connor were looking at each other, frowning. "When was she supposed to be back?" Dawn asked.

"Um..." Luke looked at his watch again. "Twenty minutes ago. It's no big deal, she probably just got caught up on a story."

"She's always doing that," Sky agreed, rolling her eyes. Dawn smiled at the world weary tone.

Connor was watching the sky. "There's a storm coming in," he said. "Luke, let me walk you guys back to your room."

"What? We're fine. Go home with Dawn."

Connor glanced around, catching the eye of a girl sitting near an entrance. He jerked his head and she packed up her things, coming over.

"Get Dawn back home," he told her, shovelling Dawn's books and papers into her bag. "Dawn, I'm behind you."

"What's wrong?" Dawn protested, rising to her feet.

"I really don't like that storm. Luke, let me walk you back." He glanced at Sky and back at Luke.

"Luke, it's a lightning storm," Sky whispered. "And there's a lot of power in it."

Luke glanced at her, frowning. Sky knew better than to mention things like that in front of people. Her eyes were wide and fixed on the clouds, though.

"Yeah, ok. Come on." He shoved his things together. "Dawn..."

"I'm fine. Go on." She grinned at him, turning and hurrying away with her escort.

"Come on." Connor gestured for Luke's bag. "Hang onto her. What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing," Luke said automatically, glancing at Sky. Her hair was lifting in the current and sparks were flaring along her arms. "Sky!" he hissed.

"I can't help it!" She shook one hand and the sparks dripped off like water.

Luke glanced at Connor, who was completely ignoring it. "Come on, we've got to hurry. Can we ground her?"

Luke shook his head. "She'll absorb it, we just need to hurry!" He wrapped a hand around Sky's arm – the sparks stung, but there was no real pain – and tugged lightly until she started moving.

It wasn't so bad once they got going; the current dropped off and Sky came back to herself enough to follow him. Connor got them in under an overhang just as the rain was starting; it was hitting so hard it rebounded from the ground, soaking all of them immediately.

Luke brushed a hand through his hair, dislodging a shower of water drops. "Sky, you all right?"

"Yes!" Sparks were still dancing on her skin, but the dazed look had faded. "I'm fine!"

"Good girl." He turned to look at Connor. "Connor..."

"Weird effects these storms can have. Looks like St Elmo's fire, doesn't it?" He wasn't looking at them, eyeing the clouds instead.

"Yeah. I suppose it does."

"Come on. We can get back to your room without going outside from here."

"We shouldn't go inside," Luke said, glancing at Sky. "Not until it's under control."

"If you say so." Connor shrugged, leaning against the wall to watch them.

Sky grinned, running one hand over her arm. The sparks gathered in the wake of her hands, dancing. "Pretty."

"Stop that, Sky High," Luke said half–heartedly. "Can you get rid of them?"

"There's too much in the air..." She jumped, turning to look just as a bolt of lightning earthed on a nearby building. The thunder came almost at the same moment.

Luke's phone rang, whined, and sparked to death. He dug it out of his pocket, glaring at Sky.

"That's not my fault! I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Yeah. I bet. Connor, turn your phone off. If the power flares again..."

Sky shrieked as her pocket exploded. Connor was suddenly there, ripping the pocket free and dropping the smoking remains on the ground.

"Sky, you all right?" Luke demanded, dropping to one knee in front of her to examine her. Sky nodded, patting at her hip.

"I'm fine, it didn't burn me, I'm fine. It just surprised me. That's all. I'm fine."

"Sure?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Fine. Cold."

Luke shrugged out of his jacket, draping it around her shoulders. "Here. We just need the storm to die down a bit so we can take you inside, all right? How long do you think it's going to last?"

"I don't know. I think it's going away. It's weird. It's not like a real storm."

Luke nodded. "Sky, have you picked up other storms since you came to Mum?"

"Not like this. I know they're there, but I don't..." She held out her arms, still crawling with electricity.

"Ok." Luke grinned at her, ruffling her hair. "Tell me when it's dying down, ok?"

He pushed to his feet, crossing to stand next to Connor. "Sky's human," he murmured.

Connor shook his head. He was watching the clouds rather than looking at Luke. "No, she's not."

Luke winced. "Mostly."

"I know human, Luke, and I know not human. That..." He gestured to where Sky was still playing with the sparks. "That's not human."

"She's not a that."

Connor eyed him for a moment before looking back at the clouds. "What about you?"

Luke winced again. It felt like a betrayal to say "I'm human."

"Are you?"

" _Human._ You're taking this very calmly."

"I grew up in LA. Centre of weirdness." Connor glanced at him. "Dawn trusts you, you know. She thinks you're a good man. She's been defending you for weeks."

Luke studied Connor for a moment. Somehow he seemed very dangerous, even lounging against the wall and dripping wet. "Whatever you're thinking, Connor, we didn't come here to hurt anyone. I'm smart and Sky feels electricity. That's all. I swear."

"Your sister thinks this storm is fake. Is she right?"

"Usually she is about electricity, but I'm not sure she's ever been in a fake storm before."

"Luke, it's dying down!" Sky called. Luke waved acknowledgment, watching as the sparks started to die out.

"If it's not a real storm, what does that mean?" he murmured.

"Might mean that someone knows about your sister and wants her outed. Anyone hate you?"

"No one who knows I'm here, and fewer who know about her."

The sparks on Sky's arms faded completely and the clouds overhead began to thin out. Connor watched, nodding. "Definitely not a natural storm. We're going to need to talk."

"Yeah." Luke glanced at Sky, now watching them suspiciously. "Later."

"Later," Connor agreed.

"Sky, you ready to go?" Luke wrapped his coat more tightly around her.

Sky wrapped an arm around his neck, whispering into his ear, "I didn't mean it."

"It's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. Don't worry about it."

"But he saw me."

"Yeah." Luke glanced at Connor, waiting patiently for them. "I think it'll be ok. Don't worry. Come on, we're got to go back to my room."

"Why your room?"

"Because K9 can call Mr Smith to call Mom. You're right, she should have been back by now."

"You can use my cell," Connor offered.

"Thanks, but Mr Smith won't pick up to you. He doesn't know you. Are you coming?"

"Yeah. It's dark for you to be out."

Luke raised an eyebrow but didn't ask. "We can go inside now."

"Quicker to cross the green. Got a hold of Sky?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Come on."

"What's wrong?" Sky whispered.

"I don't know. Let's just hurry, ok? We'll be talking to Mum in a few minutes."

Connor hurried them across the green, watching around them carefully. Luke half–watched him; the lazy student had vanished. Connor was moving like an athlete, all flowing movements and no wasted motion. Luke wasn't athletic, but he recognised it in others.

As they neared Luke's building Connor pulled his phone from a pocket, speed dialling. "Dawn? I'm going to be a little while. Don't go outside. Can you talk to the girls? Right. Later."

"She all right?" Luke asked.

"Fine," Connor said shortly.

They reached the building without incident. Connor relaxed slightly when they reached Luke's room; Sky huddled into Luke's coat, perching on his bed. Luke pulled out towels and a set of pyjamas, and Connor walked her to the bathroom to get dried off and changed.

"K9, I need to talk to Mr Smith." Luke shucked wet clothes hastily, pulling on dry ones as quickly as he could. His fingers were numb.

"Connecting." K9 whirred for a moment.

"Luke." It always sounded weird to Luke, Mr Smith's smooth voice coming from K9's speakers. "Are you well?"

"Did you see the storm?"

"Yes. Sarah Jane reports that parts of the town have flooded. She is unable to reach the college. Are you hurt?"

"Just really cold. Mr Smith, Sky reacted to the electricity."

"What do you mean, reacted?" Rani demanded.

"Hey, Rani." Finally dressed again, he flipped on the web camera. "I mean sparks all over. We stayed outside, I didn't dare bring her in. She wasn't hurt, she was playing with them, but...I thought she couldn't do that anymore?"

"She's not supposed to be able to," Rani agreed. "Mr Smith?"

"Sky's ability to control electricity is gone," he agreed. "However, the mechanisms that allowed her to do so without being injured are still in place. It's possible that she instinctively channelled the power from the air."

"Did you get anything about the storm?" Luke scrubbed at his hair with his shirt, getting the worst of the wet out.

"It was not a natural phenomenon. However, I am unable to determine how it was created. I shall continue to analyse the records."

"Thanks." Luke glanced over his shoulder at a noise in the hall. "Rani, I have to talk to Connor..."

"Connor?"

"Long story. Can you talk to Sky for a few minutes?"

"Yeah, 'course. Everything all right?"

"It's fine." He smiled quickly, standing as his door opened. "Sky, come talk to Rani."

"Hi Rani!" Sky clomped across the room – Luke's pyjamas were far too big on her – and dropped awkwardly into the desk chair. "Did Luke tell you about the storm?"

"Mr Smith picked it up. Looks like you got caught."

"We weren't even in it! The rain was _bouncing_."

Luke backed up to the door, where Connor was watching. "I can find you something to wear..."

"I'm not staying."

"Sure?"

Connor eyed him. "You're both human?"

"Yes."

"And not about to take over the world?"

"I...wasn't planning on it."

"What's up with Sky?"

Luke glanced automatically over his shoulder. "Nothing's up with her. She feels electricity. That's all. She can't use it for anything, she can't throw lightning bolts, nothing like that. She just feels it."

"And you?"

"I'm smart. And my reflexes are higher than normal. But I'm _human_ and so is she."

Connor nodded sharply. "I'll be watching you."

"That's good too."

He glanced past Luke to where Sky was still chatting to Rani. "See you around, Luke."

"Hey," Luke called after him. "What are you?"

"I'm Connor." He loped down the corridor, vanishing into the stairwell before Luke could ask anything else.

Luke grimaced, rubbing his face briefly before heading back to join Sky in front of the computer.

"Luke!" Rani said cheerfully. "Sarah Jane's completely stuck, she can't get back to the college. She's going to come back here and try again tomorrow, if you're ok with that."

"Yeah, of course. That's fine." He glanced at Sky. "I'd better cancel that big party I was going to have, I suppose."

"Very funny," Sky sniffed. "You weren't going to have a party."

"No, I wasn't going to have a party," he agreed. "But I could if I wanted to."

"You're just not the party type," Rani said sympathetically. "Never mind, though, we love you anyway."

"Goodnight, Rani," Luke said firmly.

"Love you!" she chirped. Luke grinned, flicking the computer off.

 

Connor was soaking wet by the time he reached Dawn's. One of the girls was on guard at the porch – Lisa? He could never remember all the names – and she nodded briskly as he passed her. "All quiet around here."

"Good," he said absently. "Any news?"

"The girls flushed two vamps from the centre of campus. They're working their way out now."

"Thanks." He headed inside.

Dawn was in the sitting room, staring at one of her textbooks. Connor started to sit opposite her before realising he was still soaked. "Got a towel?"

"Yeah." Dawn threw it at him hard enough to smack him in the chest. "Do you want to tell me what's going on?"

"Sky channels electricity."

Dawn blinked, studying him. "What?"

"Electricity. That storm threw off enough that it was dancing on her arms. Sparks." He gestured loosely, scrubbing the worst of the wet out of his hair. "It was...weird. But kind of cool."

"Could she channel it, or..."

"No, I don't think so. Luke says not, and she didn't do anything like that. Just sparks. We stayed outside, but..."

"No wonder you're soaked. Was there a point to that or did you just feel like pneumonia?"

"I'm not going to get pneumonia. And it was Luke's idea, he said we should stay outside. I guess he was afraid she'd blow the power."

"What about Luke?"

"He says he's smart. Which you can't prove by his language skills, but he picks up everything else pretty quickly, so...He says they're both human. He's very insistent."

"In denial, or else he really doesn't know," Dawn mused. "If he grew up in a human family without knowing what he is..."

"Yeah, but he's not the same as Sky. What kind of family accidentally adopts two different kinds of demons without realising?"

"Maybe the family knew." She studied him for a moment. "Have you decided he's not dangerous?"

Connor shrugged. "More or less."

"That's a change. Why?"

"Mostly the way he was with Sky." He shrugged, giving up on the towel and slumping onto the couch. "Plus, we've been watching him for six months and he hasn't done _anything._ I don't know any demons with that kind of patience. Not the evil ones, anyway." 

"And he doesn't feel evil," Dawn said pointedly.

Connor rolled his eyes. "And he doesn't feel evil," he admitted. "Off, still, weird, but not evil."

Dawn grinned triumphantly. "Told you."

Connor rolled his eyes again. "Yes. Have you spoken to Willow?"

"No. Why?"

"That storm wasn't natural. It flooded out the roads and exposed Sky but it didn't do any real damage. It blew up too quickly and dispersed too fast to be natural."

"If it didn't do any harm, what was the point?"

"Sort of what I wanted to ask Willow."

Dawn glanced towards the door. "And the vampires?"

"I dunno. The girls found two. I didn't sense any more than that. Maybe they just wandered onto campus. Honestly, I'm surprised there aren't more here, college full of students."

"The old Council kept the town pretty clear. They trained a lot of their Watchers here. I guess the vamps just stopped coming."

"Well, they've started coming again." He shrugged. "Maybe it was a one off."

"You're about to try and impose rules on me, aren't you?"

Connor shrugged again. "Just a curfew. Or, if you're going to be out after dark, call me or one of the girls."

"That's it?"

"That's it. You have enough experience to manage yourself. I just want to know where you are after dark."

Dawn nodded reluctantly. It was a lot lighter than she'd been expecting. Without Connor, the girls probably would have put her under house arrest by now. "You know, considering they're not even here for me, they're very gung ho about protecting me."

"Well, yeah," Connor agreed. "You think any of them want to find out where the Council will place them if they let anything happen to you?"

"They're not even supposed to be watching me!" Dawn sighed. "I knew I should have gone somewhere else. Too many Slayers here."

"That's what happens when you go to the council's old university," Connor agreed unsympathetically. "You knew it would."

"I knew Buffy would saddle me with a real team otherwise," Dawn told him. "This was the best way."

"Yeah, well, you're here. Curfew. Yes?"

"Yes. I agreed already."

"Good. I'd hate to have to ground you."

"You are _one year_ older than me, Connor."

"Yep, and that makes me the boss."

"In your dreams."

He eyed her until she blushed, grinning. "If you like."

"Shut up," she muttered. "And get off my couch, you're dripping." Connor grinned, heading upstairs to get changed.


	4. Chapter Three

Dawn knocked on Luke's door halfway through the next morning. "You weren't in class," she said when he opened it.

"Shush." He glanced over his shoulder at the bed. "Sky's asleep. That storm got her mixed up, she was up all night. Couldn't sleep. I only got her to lie down about half an hour ago."

"She all right?" Dawn asked, glancing in.

"Yeah, yeah. She's fine. Just tired. Once she wakes up she'll be ok." He looked back at Dawn. "I'm not trying to take over the world."

"I didn't think you were."

"Yeah, Connor said. Why didn't you?"

Dawn shrugged. "You're not evil. That wasn't hard to tell. You're weird, but not evil."

"Thanks," Luke said dryly. "And I'm not weird. I'm just different. I miss social cues. That's all."

Dawn nodded. "Look, Connor says the storm was weird last night. It started in a town about an hour away from here, came straight here and then dispersed. We're going to check it out."

Luke glanced over his shoulder, biting his lip. "I'll come. Can you wait a little? She really needs some sleep."

"Don't bother. Stay here, let her sleep."

"No," he said firmly. "This was about her. Us. We're coming. Just...a little while?"

"Yeah. I'll be back in an hour or so, all right?"

"Thanks." He smiled at her, easing the door closed again.

Luke let Sky sleep for another forty five minutes or so before waking her up. She was tired, but once she'd had a drink and eaten a snack she was all right. The power she'd absorbed the day before was still keeping her going.

They were waiting outside, Sky back in her own clothes and Luke's jacket, when Connor appeared. "Dawn's waiting. Come on." Glancing at Sky, he added, "you all right?"

"Yes, thank you. I'm fine. Where are we going?"

He rattled off an address. "Google says it's an old hospital. Weird lights and noises the past couple of nights. Police haven't seen anything."

"They so rarely do," Luke agreed absently.

"And they made the storm?" Sky asked.

"Maybe. It started there. Maybe they didn't have anything to do with it, whoever they are."

Connor started to say something; Luke caught his eye and he shook his head. "This way. Come on."

 

They didn't talk much during the trip to the hospital. Sky sat with Luke in the back, chatting quietly to keep from falling asleep. Connor drove, mostly ignoring Dawn's attempts to talk to him.

"He thinks we should have left you behind," she confided to Luke.

"Oh? I thought he believed I'm not evil."

"Yeah, he doesn't want to risk you. Or Sky."

"We're used to risk. And this is all about us, whatever it is. We'll deal with it."

"Really? What kind of risk?"

"The risky kind. What about you? Connor doesn't mind risking you?"

Dawn grinned. "I just yelled until he gave up on trying to stop me. Plus, my sister's kind of his boss."

"She is not," Connor muttered. His hands flexed on the wheel.

"She kind of is," Dawn stage whispered over the seat. Luke smiled at her tone.

"We're here," Connor announced, parking the car. Luke glanced around, surprised; they were nowhere near anything that looked even remotely like a hospital.

"We're where, exactly?" Dawn asked, climbing out.

"A couple of blocks from the address. I didn't think we should just drive up. Who knows what's there."

"Good plan," she agreed. Leaning in through Luke's window, she added, "Last chance. You can stay here."

"It's about us," he said firmly. "We're coming. Just...can I borrow your phone? Ours died last night."

"Yeah." She dug it out, tossing it to him.

Luke passed it to Sky. "Call Rani," he said quietly. "Tell her what we're doing, and we'll call her within the next two hours. Ok?"

"Yes." Sky dialled quickly, watching as he got out to join Connor and Dawn.

"Anything?" Dawn asked, watching Connor.

"Nothing I recognise. Stay here." He slipped into an alley near them, vanishing between one step and the next.

Luke blinked, starting to follow him, but Dawn caught his arm. "Don't. Let him do it."

He glanced back at her. "I wasn't the only one keeping secrets, was I?"

"Later."

Sky climbed out of the car, very quietly closing the door and handing the phone back to Dawn. "She was mad," she reported to Luke. "She said she'd have been calling you names if I was any older."

"Well, lucky for me you aren't, then."

Connor was suddenly there again, brushing off his trousers absently. "I can't see anything," he reported. "It's fenced off and boarded up, but there's gaps. We won't have any trouble getting in." He pulled open the car's boot, fishing out torches and passing them around.

Luke glanced at Sky. "Stay with me," he said softly.

"I promise."

"Good." He looked back at Dawn. "We're ready."

They headed into the hospital together; Connor held the fence out of the way to let them in, dropping it neatly back behind them. He took the lead as they slipped in through a side door. Inside the hospital was dingy and dark and smelled of damp, but it didn't seem too badly run down.

"I've seen worse," Connor murmured, torch sweeping steadily back and forth in front of them.

"Yeah. It's never fun, though," Luke agreed. He kept his torch aimed at their feet so he and Sky could see where they were going.

Connor halted them all abruptly, head tilted down the corridor. "Wait," he murmured.

Luke glanced at Sky, who shrugged. She wasn't picking up anything, and he couldn't hear whatever Connor was listening to.

"Back," Connor said abruptly. "Back, back back!" Luke caught Sky's hand, tugging her back along the corridor. Dawn was on their heels, watching over her shoulder. Connor hadn't moved, listening to whatever he was listening to.

Luke turned a corner, tugging Sky back against the wall and tilting her torch down. Dawn piled in with them and Connor was abruptly there, standing between them and the corner.

Luke pushed Sky's hand into Dawn's and slipped around them to join Connor. "What is it?" he breathed.

"Something very big and very heavy, and not trying to hide."

Luke could hear it now. He frowned, listening to the sound. That was oddly familiar.

Connor backed up suddenly, dragging Luke with him. "They're here, we have to..."

Three huge figures rounded the corner. Sky shrieked; Luke started to turn towards her, but Dawn's torch was dancing over the figures and he stopped.

" _Judoon!_ "

 

 

"What is going on?" Connor hissed. The Judoon had allowed them to withdraw a little, but they were boxed into a dead end corridor and couldn't go anywhere.

"They won't hurt us," Luke said absently. He was watching the Judoon argue with each other.

Eventually one removed its helmet – Dawn hissed in a breath at the sight – and stalked towards them, holding a thin device. Luke breathed out a sigh of relief, stepping forward to meet him. Sky, clinging to Luke's coat, followed him.

"Captain Tybo," Luke said clearly into the device. "What's going on?"

The Judoon plugged the device into his chest. "Language assimilated. Earth, English. You will be catalogued." It pulled out a different device, shining it into Luke's eye.

"Luke!" Dawn yelled.

"It's fine. It's just a scan, it doesn't hurt."

The Judoon studied the read out.

"Your timeline is incorrect. You will remain for questioning."

"But not them," Luke said quickly. "Their timelines are fine, they can go."

The Judoon pulled Luke to one side and scanned the others again. "Your timelines are incorrect. You will all remain for questioning."

"Captain Tybo, wait, please. They don't have anything to do with this, they don't know anything, they're just human. Please let them go."

"You will all remain for questioning," Tybo repeated.

"Luke," Dawn hissed, but he waved her to silence. Sky was watching carefully; Dawn had a hand on her shoulder, keeping her with them.

"Captain Tybo, you remember me, don't you?" Luke said.

"Designate Smith, Luke. Parent Smith, Sarah Jane; associates Langer, Clyde and Chandra, Rani."

"Yes, that's me. We helped you with Androvax, remember? Captain Tybo, who are you chasing?"

"Designate Slitheen, Korst Gogg..."

"Thekk Lutiven–Day," Luke chorused along with him. "I thought we'd dealt with him. Why is he here?"

"Luke," Connor started, but Luke waved him off as well.

"Captain Tybo, you're worried about our timelines. Is Korst messing with time travel? Captain, you've got to let my mum know. Let me call her."

"No calls." Tybo pointed to a sign further down the corridor.

Luke eyed the bright red "No mobiles!" sign with resignation. "This building's decommissioned, the sign doesn't apply any more," he said hopefully.

"Rules must be obeyed. No calls." He pushed Luke back towards the others.

"What is going on?" Dawn hissed, steadying him. Sky caught his arm, tucking herself against his side, and he smiled briefly at her.

"Long story short? They're alien policemen chasing an alien criminal. We just got in the way. They won't hurt us; we haven't done anything wrong. Well, unless you're doing something I don't know about in your room." 

"Not the time for jokes!"

"Right, right, sorry." He grimaced, eyeing the nearest Judoon and wondering how fast he could phone home.

"Not fast enough," Connor murmured. "How do you know them?"

"My mum. She's been investigating aliens most of her life. Helping them if they need it, dealing with them if they're unfriendly. There's groups all over the world. She happens to be one."

"From Ealing," Dawn said.

"Yes?"

"From Sunnydale?" Connor said sharply. Dawn subsided, glaring at the Judoon as they conversed softly.

"Why won't he let you call?" she asked finally.

Luke gestured to the sign. "Rules must be obeyed."

"Seriously?" she said incredulously.

"They're policemen. All laws must be obeyed. They don't care about shooting an innocent who happens to be in the way, but Captain Tybo made us buy a parking ticket before he'd chase Androvax last time."

"Connor?" Dawn glanced from him to the sign and back.

"Too far. Distraction?"

She turned on her heel and strode up to the nearest guard. "Hey! I need some water." He stared at her blankly and she repeated, "Wa–ter. Liquid? Something to drink?"

The Judoon pushed her back and Luke disentangled himself from Sky, hurrying to steady her. "Um, bo so ko...do lo. I think."

"You speak Judoon...ian?" Dawn asked.

"Not really, so I hope I haven't just said something insulting. Captain Tybo's the only one who downloaded English...there we go." The Judoon held out a thick black cylinder and Luke said clearly, "We would like some water, please."

"Language assimilated. Earth, English. Request denied."

"What? Doesn't the Shadow Proclamation have any rules on the treatment of prisoners?"

"You are not prisoners; you are being held for questioning. Request denied. Return to your designated area."

Luke glanced back at Connor, who nodded; glancing down the corridor, he saw the sign was gone. Catching Dawn's arm, he hustled her back over. "How did you do that?" he whispered, taking the phone Connor offered him and dialling rapidly.

"Your secrets first, they're the ones that are going to get us killed."

"They're not going to kill us, I told you, we haven't done anything wrong...Mum? Are you at home?"

" _What's wrong?_ "

"I'm in a disused hospital – no, I'm fine, it's disused. But Mum, listen. Captain Tybo is here. They're chasing Korst Lutiven–Day Slitheen, something to do with time travel. You..."

"No calls!" Tybo growled, stomping back over to them.

Luke gestured down the hall. "That rule only applies at certain times. Look, the sign's gone."

Tybo considered the space for a moment before turning back to him. "Carry on."

Luke lifted the phone again in time to hear the end of Mr Smith's fanfare. Connor was staring at the phone; Luke ignored him. "Mum?"

" _Are you all right?_ " she asked quickly.

"I'm fine, we're all fine."

" _We?_ "

"Sky's with me, and Dawn and Connor."

She was silent for a long moment before saying " _Oh._ "

"I know. I tried to get Captain Tybo to let them go, but he keeps saying something about our timelines being wrong."

" _Yours are wrong._ "

Connor shoved off the wall and crossed to murmur to Dawn; Luke watched him go, absently saying, "I know, but that's hardly true for all of us."

" _It would be a coincidence,_ " Sarah Jane murmured, in what he recognised as her 'about to investigate' tone. " _Do you have any idea what Korst is doing or where he is?_ "

"No. I don't even know it's time travel, not really. I just guessed because Captain Tybo's so worried about timelines."

" _I can find no trace of Slitheen energy anywhere on Earth,_ " Mr Smith said smoothly.

"What are the chances the Judoon are wrong?" Luke asked, leaning against the wall.

" _It's hard to say. They're easy enough to fool, but that's not in the Slitheen character. They'd hide instead. Luke, you're going to have to get Tybo to tell you what's happening._ "

"I'd love to, Mum, but he's not exactly listening to me at the moment."

" _Make him. You can do it._ " She paused for a moment before asking, " _How's Sky? Mr Smith told me about the storm._ "

"She's fine." He glanced at Sky, who nodded, smiling.

" _All right. I'm on my way to you..._ "

"Mum, don't. Stay there, we might need Mr Smith. I'll call you as soon as we find anything out."

There was a much longer pause before she said reluctantly, " _All right. If I don't hear from you in the next half hour I'm coming._ "

"All right." Luke hung up the phone, glancing over at Dawn and Connor. She was murmuring into her own phone; he couldn't hear anything she was saying.

Connor caught his eye, muttering to Dawn. She nodded, saying something else and hanging up. Luke crossed to join them. "Everything ok?" he murmured.

"Just checking in with Giles." Dawn stuffed the phone into her pocket, looking down the hall. "So now what?"

"While they're not listening," Luke said quietly, "tell me why they think your timelines are weird. I know why they think it about me and Sky."

"You've met Captain Tybo. Why didn't he figure it out last time?"

"Because he wasn't looking for time disruptions last time. He didn't pay any attention to me unless he wanted me to do something. Timelines, Dawn."

Dawn glanced at Connor and they had a rapid conversation with their eyebrows. "I'm not explaining to Buffy," Connor said finally.

She grimaced, looking back at Luke. "I'm six."

"Six...years old? Really? Wow."

"It's been five years since I was born," Connor contributed when Luke looked at him. "But I've lived twenty years, and I've had reality restructured around me. They're probably pretty confused."

"Huh."

"What about you?" Dawn demanded when he fell silent.

"Me? Uh, four. Made by aliens to destroy the world. Decided I didn't want to do that."

"I'm not a year yet," Sky told them. "I was supposed to explode and kill all my mother's enemies."

"Born to fulfil a few prophecies," Connor said absently, glancing down the corridor as a Judoon tramped across the base of it.

"Living vessel for interdimensional energy," Dawn added. "It's mostly dormant," she said defensively when Luke just stared at her.

"Hang on, you're..." he snatched Connor's sketchpad, rapidly drawing a series of shapes."Have either of you ever seen an engraving like this?" He flipped it around to show them. "It would be on – an old fashioned fob watch, maybe a locket, a box. Something that opens and closes. It's important. Think hard."

Connor studied it, shaking his head. "No. I've never seen anything like that before. What is it? It's pretty."

"It's a language. Dawn, have you..."

"How can that be a language?" Connor protested.

"It's for describing things in dimensions we can't even perceive; there's probably extra dimensions to the writing as well. Dawn, have you seen this?"

"No. Never. What does it say?"

"I don't know." Catching Connor's look, he added, "I don't know. I'm just reproducing it; I saw it once, on a watch, but I wasn't in a position to get it translated."

"Ok. If neither of us have seen it, what does that mean?" Dawn asked.

"It means it probably wasn't Time Lord science that messed up your timelines."

"It was magic," she said patiently. "Well, for me it was. Connor's was dimensional travel."

"At least the first time," he agreed. "It was magic the second time around, though."

"The reality rewrite," Luke murmured. "I've heard about something similar to that. That was – well, I suppose it was a kind of magic. The power in words."

"This was just the power in magic. It's still mostly holding up, too."

"Mostly?" Luke repeated.

"Well, I remember my first life. Angel remembers. Wesley did, and Illyria. Everyone else just remembers my second life."

Sky frowned. "Two lives?"

"One was created for him," Dawn said absently. Captain Tybo stalked past the corridor, yelling at another Judoon. "Because the first one went bad. Angel made a deal that gave him a better, second one."

"Don't," Luke said quietly when Sky went to ask again. "It doesn't matter right now."

Captain Tybo stomped down the hall. "Designate Smith, Luke," he said. "You will come with me."

"We'll all come," Luke said.

"Designate Smith, Luke."

"We're all coming, Captain Tybo. We're staying together."

"You will not resist the orders of a law enforcement officer."

"The Shadow Proclamation has no jurisdiction on Earth, Captain Tybo. You have no right to give us orders."

"We are operating in pursuit of a war criminal. You will aid."

"Yes," Luke agreed. "We'll help you. But you don't split us up and you don't threaten us."

"Luke," Dawn said, so softly it was barely a breath. "Let go of Sky's hand."

Luke obeyed without looking away from Captain Tybo. Dawn stepped up to his shoulder, brushing against him lightly.

"You can accept his terms and we'll help you, or we'll just leave," she told Tybo.

"You are not permitted to leave this premises," Tybo said.

"Yeah, but if you're going to enforce that you have to catch us."

Luke glanced around. Connor and Sky had vanished completely. Swallowing his instinctive protest, he looked back at Tybo. "Well?"

The Judoon growled. "Your terms are accepted."

Sky caught Luke's hand; he jumped, looking back to find Connor leaning against the wall. "Good," he said, turning back to Tybo. "How can we help you?"

"You will come this way." Tybo turned on his heel, stalking down the corridor.

Luke glanced at Connor, one eyebrow raised. "Later?"

"Later," Connor agreed, following Tybo.

"You ok?" Luke murmured to Sky.

"I'm fine. He's really, really fast."

"Fast?" Luke repeated, looking after them.

"Luke, come on," Dawn called. He nodded, heading after them.

 

The Judoon's command centre was set up, for some reason, in what had been the nursery. The cartoon characters on the walls were a strange contrast to the Judoon walking around.

Tybo handed Luke a flimsy. "Designate Slitheen's records."

Luke scanned it, frowning. "It doesn't say anything about time travel."

"Slitheen's interest in time travel is new. He came to this world in an effort to reverse his past defeats."

"He had a lot of defeats?" Dawn asked, leaning over Luke's arm to study the flimsy. "You can't learn Sumerian but you can read that?"

"It's computer code," Luke said absently.

"Luke beat him twice," Sky said proudly.

"I didn't really have anything to do with it either time," Luke corrected her. "Mum got him the first time, and he helped us out the second."

"Your enemy helped you out?"

"It was that or be destroyed. He chose the lesser of two evils. But we sent him home after that. He shouldn't be back here."

"Revenge does funny things," Connor said with a shrug. "Why time travel?"

"Time travel," Sky said abruptly. "Luke, the Trickster."

"No, this isn't his style. And nothing's changed."

"That we know of."

"That we know of," he agreed. "Captain Tybo, how is he time travelling? The Slitheen don't have that technology."

"The technology was stolen. Slitheen acquired a rift manipulator."

"There's no rift here!"

Captain Tybo pulled out a different flimsy. "Rift is forming. No noticeable effects as of yet. Power is enough for limited time travel."

"Do you know when Korst is?"

"You're going to explain at some point, right?" Dawn asked.

"Yes," Luke promised. "Just – this is important."

"Slitheen has not been tracked."

"You don't know where he is." Luke grimaced. "He hasn't changed anything. Or, not seriously, anyway. I mean, he's not in charge, there's no Rakweed anywhere, the world hasn't been destroyed..."

"Is any of that likely?" Connor asked.

"With Korst, who knows. He really doesn't like us, but if there's a chance to make some money he'll take it. Captain Tybo, I need to talk to Mr Smith."

Tybo stomped away to talk to another Judoon and Connor offered his phone. "Thanks," Luke murmured absently, dialling. "Mum?"

" _What's going on, Luke?_ "

"Captain Tybo says there's a rift starting to form here. Korst's using a rift manipulator."

" _That's a useless way to travel. Even Vortex Manipulators are better than those._ "

"Might be the only thing he could get. Can you ask Mr Smith to search for it?"

" _I am already searching,_ " Mr Smith told him. " _No results as of yet._ "

"Ok. Can you keep me updated?"

" _Of course._ "

"Thanks, Mr Smith. Bye, Mum."

"Who's Mr Smith?" Connor asked. "He sounds weird. Keep it," he added when Luke offered him his phone back. "Until this is over, anyway."

"Mr Smith's our – super computer."

"Super computer," Dawn repeated. "Cool. We just have a really good hacker."

"We have one of those, too. Back up for when the super computer turns evil or goes offline."

Connor grinned. "That often happens?"

"Not often, no." Luke put down the flimsies, leaning against the table to study them. "It's later."

"You first," Dawn said.

"You know mine. Aliens and four years old. You, on the other hand –" he glanced at Connor. "You're fast and your hearing's better than most. And you disappeared in the alley."

"Speed," he said, shaking his head. "It's the same thing. I'm strong, too."

"Why?"

Connor shrugged, watching him carefully. "That's what happens when your parents are vampires."

Luke blinked twice. "All right, don't tell me."

"He is telling you..."

"It doesn't matter," Sky said over Dawn. "Luke, we need to find Korst."

"We're working on it."

"Is anyone actually looking? You know, with their eyes?"

Connor grinned. "I like her. I'll go have a look around."

"They won't let you out," Luke warned him.

"They won't stop me." Connor grinned, took a step back and was gone.

Dawn smiled at the look on Luke's face. "You get used to that."

 

 

Captain Tybo, when he came back, was not happy. He immediately pulled his guards in to create a tighter perimeter, despite Luke's protests that they should really be concentrating on finding Korst rather than worrying about Connor.

"Tell me exactly what's happening," Dawn said, studying the flimsies. Luke had managed to translate them, but it didn't mean much to her anyway.

"Korst is a member of the family Slitheen," Luke explained. "They're an extended family from the planet Raxicoricophallapatorious. They're thieves and conmen, and they only attack low level planets like Earth. They've tried things like compressing Earth into a big diamond or blowing it up to sell the pieces. We keep defeating them and they keep declaring lifelong vengeance..." he gestured loosely. "Feuds. They hold a grudge."

"Right. And he's trying to...?"

"Time travel. For some reason. The Judoon are like policemen, they're here to stop him."

"And capture anyone who gets in the way. Ok. What's a Slitheen look like?"

"Depends whether they're hiding or not."

"Usually they're really big." Sky held a hand above her head. "And green, unless they're Blathereen, then they're orange. And fat, and big long arms."

"And if they're hiding?"

"They hide in human skin," Luke explained. "They'll skin someone and use compression technology to fit themselves inside the skin. It means they fart a lot. That's usually the best way to tell."

"Farting. That's a new one. How do we stop them?"

Luke shrugged. "Vinegar makes them explode – they're made of calcium, mostly. It's really messy, though. They're not very brave, but they're very fast and very strong." 

Dawn sighed. "I have to make a call. Think the Judoon will stop me?"

Luke shook his head. "There's no signs in here. They won't care."

"Good." She pulled out the phone, dialling quickly. When the call was picked up she gave a quick, precise description of the Slitheen, adding Luke's warning about the vinegar, and a description of the Judoon.

"Who's that?" Luke asked when she hung up.

"Giles. He'll get the girls onto it."

"Girls?"

Dawn grinned. "Later."

"We're going to be talking for years at this rate."

"I could live with that." She grinned again at the look on his face. "We'll talk about that later, too."

"Eww," Sky proclaimed.

"Shut up, Sky High," Luke muttered, ducking his head to study the flimsies intently.

Frowning, he turned. "Captain Tybo? What is this notification here?"

Tybo studied the flimsy. "This indicates that Slitheen Korst has known allies."

"What allies? You mean apart from the Slitheen?"

"Slitheen Korst has worked with Xylok..."

"Not relevant."

"...and with the outcast Bane known as Wormwood."

Dawn caught Luke's arm as he tried to step back. "What is it?"

"Is she here on Earth?" Sky asked quickly.

"Bane Wormwood was last seen in the Maxis cluster."

"That's four hundred thousand light years from here," Luke murmured. "What were they doing, Captain?"

"Who's Wormwood?" Dawn insisted.

"She made Luke. She thinks she's his mother," Sky explained. "She keeps trying to get him to go off with her and take over the universe."

"Outcast Bane attempted to lure Slitheen Korst into a deal to extract revenge on Smith, Sarah Jane. Slitheen Korst handed her to the Bane for the reward."

"The Bane got her?" Luke swayed for a moment; Connor was abruptly there, holding him up.

Sky leaned against him. "She's gone, Luke."

"Yeah." He swallowed hard. "Yeah, I suppose she is."

"What about the other one? Xylok?" Dawn asked.

Sky shook her head. "That's Mr Smith. He's good now."

"You're sure?" Connor asked, stepping away as Luke nodded to him.

"Yes. His memory got wiped out and he's good."

"That does happen sometimes," Dawn agreed, glancing at Connor.

"Hey, you didn't even know me back then."

"No, but I've heard stories."

"Did you find anything?" Luke asked.

"Someone's been in the basement. In and out a few times. There's machinery down there, I've no idea what any of it is for."

Luke glanced at Captain Tybo. "Did your men check the basement?"

"Basement access was locked. No need for check."

Connor shook his head. "There's at least three entrances. Two of them are sealed solid, but the third is easy enough to open."

"Show access point," Tybo demanded, gesturing to another Judoon.

"Please," Dawn muttered.

"I'm not sure they understand 'please'," Luke told her.

"You have such interesting friends."

"They aren't my friends. Connor, will you show them?"

"Yeah." He pushed away from the desk. "Are they going to recognise the machinery down there?"

Luke frowned. "Oh. Maybe not. I'll come with you. Dawn, will you stay here with Sky?"

"Yeah, of course."

"I won't be long, Sky High," Luke promised Sky. "Just stay with Dawn."

"There's no power down there," Sky told him.

"Thanks." Glancing at Dawn, he added, "I still have Connor's phone. Call us if anything happens."

"Yeah." She glanced at Captain Tybo warily.

"Captain, the girls will be safe here, won't they? They're witnesses. You have to keep them safe."

Tybo grumbled. "My men will protect."

"Thank you." He grinned at Sky, following Connor out of the nursery.

 

If the corridors above had been gloomy, the basement was ten times worse. Without any windows there was no outside light, and most of the emergency lights had burned out or been smashed. The Judoon produced huge lanterns; Connor ghosted out of the pool of light. Luke concentrated on his footing. The hospital machinery and furniture was mostly gone, but there were dead leaves and bits of rubbish around. He guessed the basement had been used by homeless people as a refuge.

That led to uncomfortable thoughts about where those people might be now, and Luke abandoned the train of thought.

Connor reappeared, one hand shading his eyes. "It's this way."

Tybo pushed past Luke to follow him. "How far?"

"Just a minute or two. You should put out some of those, he might be around."

"Might be?" Luke repeated.

"It's hard to tell. He's been in and out a few times."

Two of the Judoon put out their torches, and Luke shielded his with his fingers. Connor vanished around a corner and Tybo followed him. The Judoon kept Luke from following until Tybo called back an 'all clear'.

Connor was waiting just inside what had once been a furnace room. There were various bits of machinery wired to the furnace; Tybo was scanning it carefully.

"No explosives," he said finally. "No immediate danger."

"Korst isn't here?" Luke asked Connor.

"No. I can't track him from in here. I could go outside, I'd pick him up easily enough."

"Not just yet. Let me have a look here for a minute." Luke approached the machinery, studying it carefully.

Tybo was studying it as well. "This is rift manipulator," he announced.

"It's only part of it though. This is the part that actually gets the energy. He must have the other part with him, the one that lets him travel."

"This equipment has not been used," Tybo declared. "It is storing energy, but there has been no time travel."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Connor asked.

"No." Luke straightened away from it. "If this hasn't been used, the traces Captain Tybo picked up came from something else. There was time travel here, and if it wasn't Korst..."

"He didn't go from here. Could he have come to here?"

Luke frowned, studying him. "To here?"

"Yeah. Time travel, right? Who says he had to start from here? What if he came here from the future and whatever he's changing is in this time, not the past?"

"That's brilliant."

"Don't have to sound so surprised, Luke. I do have an occasional good idea."

"That was a great idea. Captain Tybo, how old is Korst?"

"Thirty two standard galactic years."

Luke shook his head. "That's too old. Korst was a child a couple of years ago. He's come back from the future. Connor, you may have just saved our lives."

"Why is all this stuff here, though? If he came backwards?"

"So he can go forwards again afterwards. He knew the Rift here wasn't strong enough at this time for us to pick up, but it is strong enough for him to use. Travelling by manipulator isn't very safe no matter what you do, so that wouldn't have mattered."

"Slitheen Korst must be stopped," Tybo rumbled.

Luke nodded, glancing at Connor. "Can you track him?"

"No problem."

"Good. I'll see what I can do about this. Do you want your phone?"

"No, hang onto it. I'll be back as soon as I've found him."

"Be careful."

"I'm always careful."

"I will assign an escort," Tybo said.

"No thanks. No offence, but your guys aren't very subtle. I'll be quicker and more efficient on my own."

Tybo pulled a communicator from his belt and tossed it to Connor. "Button on side will alert us if you are in danger," he said.

"Thanks." Connor clipped it to his belt. "Back in a while."

Luke nodded, turning to the machine. "Right. Let's have a look at this, then."

 

Sky was sitting on the desk, swinging her legs, when they returned to the nursery. Luke grinned at her, leaning against the table.

"What happened?" Dawn asked.

"We found his machinery. Turns out Korst came back from the future, he's not going back from here."

"He's not the Korst you knew?" Sky asked, frowning.

"He is, but from the future. Quite a way in the future, too, about seventy earth years. Our Korst is probably on Raxicoricophallapatorious, or out trying to overthrow another planet."

"Why is he here? Why now?"

"Something obviously happened in the future that he wants to change."

"Time travel gives me a headache," Dawn muttered. "Where's Connor?"

"He went outside to see if he could search for Korst. He wasn't in the basement and Connor couldn't get a trace from in there."

"Right." Her phone rang and she took a few steps away to answer it.

"You ok, Sky high?" Luke asked.

"Yeah. We should call mum, shouldn't we? To tell her about this? She stopped Korst twice. She should know to be careful."

"Yeah, good idea." Luke pulled out Connor's phone, dialling home. "Mum?"

" _It's Rani, Luke._ "

"Where's Mum?"

" _She's talking to one of her contacts. What's going on?_ "

Luke quickly summarized everything they'd found out so far. "Connor's out tracking him now," he finished. "But he's about seventy years older than he should be, so he could have learned anything in between. We don't even know why he's here. I've taken the important parts of his machine, he won't be able to travel anywhere else."

" _Right,_ " Rani said absently. " _I'll tell Sarah Jane when she comes back up._ "

"What's wrong?" Luke asked, frowning.

" _Wrong?_ "

"You're distracted."

" _Oh. Yeah,_ " she agreed guiltily. " _Luke, Clyde's gone looking for you._ "

"What?"

" _He left about half an hour ago, he's probably almost there already. Look, Sarah Jane was worried about you and Sky, so Clyde slipped away without telling her. She's downstairs yelling at his voicemail."_

"That sounds like Clyde," Luke agreed with a sigh. "Look, I can't...does he have this number?"

" _No. I'll send it to him now."_

"Don't bother, I'll call him."

" _He won't answer, he'll think Sarah Jane is just ringing him from someone else's phone. I'll text him your number. Keep the phone on._ "

"Right. Thanks, Rani."

He hung up, glaring at the table. Dawn, done with her own call, came back to join them.

"Ooh, that's an unhappy face. What's wrong?"

"Clyde decided to come join us. He slipped out without telling Mum and he's probably almost here already."

"Ok, and?"

"He doesn't know about Korst and the Judoon don't like him. He's already got a punishment from them before."

"What punishment?"

Sky grinned. "He's grounded to Earth. No intergalactic travel."

"That's a punishment now?"

"It saved the world once," Luke said absently.

"You can tell me later. So what'll they do to him if they find him first?"

"Probably take him into custody. We don't want that." His phone rang and he glanced at the screen. "Clyde, brilliant. Where are you?"

" _I'm down the street from you guys. How should I get in?_ "

"Don't do anything for a minute, I have to talk to Captain Tybo."

" _Ok. I'll just hang out here. Are you going...hey, what's..._ "

The line abruptly cut out. At the same moment, Captain Tybo's communicator began screaming a distress call.


	5. Chapter Four

Connor was crouched on a rooftop a couple of streets away from the hospital, watching the road. A Judoon tromped through below him and he grimaced, shaking his head. Big and powerful they might be, but they sucked at undercover.

Connor turned, bouncing down the nearest fire escape and heading back towards the hospital, completing his circle. Korst was good, but there were still traces here and there.

Near the hospital he paused. A car had pulled into the kerb since he'd come past last, and someone was leaning against it, talking into a phone. Connor grimaced as he recognised Clyde.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he murmured to himself, taking a few steps closer.

A huge green demon erupted out of nowhere, catching Clyde around the neck. Connor smashed the alarm button on his communicator, vaulting down the path towards them.

The demon had one arm wrapped around Clyde's neck; he was gasping, trying to pry it free, but he had no leverage and couldn't get a good grip. Connor high kicked the thing in the back of the head, sending both stumbling forward a few steps. Clyde took advantage of the stumble, tearing himself free and rolling under the car.

Connor slid between them, watching warily as it picked itself back up. Those arms were going to be trouble, he could already tell. "This is a Slitheen?" he called to Clyde.

"Yeah." Clyde coughed, spitting. "That's a Slitheen. Got any vinegar on you?"

"I'm not supposed to melt it. Luke thinks Tybo would be unhappy."

"He probably would." Clyde rolled out from the other side of the car, rising cautiously to his feet.

"You've been hunting me," the Slitheen crooned. "What are you? You're not human."

"Look who's talking," Connor retorted. "At least I can blend in." Eyeing the Slitheen, he added, "And I don't stink."

"Careful," Clyde warned him. "He's a lot faster than he looks."

"He's not faster than me. Stay on that side of the car, Clyde."

"Who put you in charge of this fight?"

The Slitheen lunged at Connor. He vaulted onto the roof of the car, kicking out and knocking Korst back into the nearest wall.

"Whoa," Clyde breathed. "I take it back." Connor flashed a grin at him, pushing back to a crouch, watching Korst.

Korst stumbled to his feet, staring at Connor. "That's not possible," he complained. "I stopped this! It never happened!"

Connor shrugged. "I'm good at changing things. Want to go again, or are you going to come with me like a good little – huge space monster?"

Korst hissed at him before slumping. "I give up," he muttered. "I travelled seventy years to keep you from defeating me. I can't do it."

"Careful," Clyde warned Connor. "A Slitheen never gives up."

Connor nodded, jumping lightly down from the car. "After you, Korst." He pointed towards the hospital. "Clyde, stay where you are."

"Don't worry, I'm not getting anywhere near that thing."

Korst turned obediently towards the hospital, shuffling along the path. Clyde took a step away from the car so he could see. 

Korst moved so quickly Clyde never even saw it. He rounded the car, grabbing Clyde by the neck and spinning him around to block Connor's advance. "One more step, little demon, and I snap his neck!"

Connor froze, vibrating in place. "I set off an alarm. They're coming for you. And Luke's smashed your machine by now."

"It doesn't matter. I don't need the machine anymore. I have what I need." He jerked Clyde briefly off his feet. "This will win me the planet."

"No." Connor said calmly. "Because if you don't let him go, I'll follow you for as long as it takes. I'll hunt you wherever you go. I'll never give up. And you need me gone for your plan to work."

Korst swayed in place for a moment. "And if I do let him go?"

Connor tilted his head towards the hospital. "They're coming. If you let Clyde go I won't stop you trying to get away."

"Connor, don't!" Clyde gurgled. Connor grinned, pulling a bottle from his pocket.

"Or I could use this," he continued calmly. "You can't really hide behind him. Make up your mind, Korst, fast."

"Don't let him goack!" Clyde choked as Korst hauled him off his feet again.

"You will not follow?"

Connor glanced up at the sun. "Not today."

Korst nodded. "Then back away." Connor obeyed, leaning carefully against the wall. Korst edged down the road, keeping Clyde between them. When he reached the corner he shoved Clyde away as hard as he could, running down the road.

Connor caught Clyde before he could face plant, easing him down to his knees. "You all right?"

"Can't..." Clyde wheezed, rubbing at his throat.

"Take a breath. You're all right." Connor brushed two fingers over his throat. "Nothing's broken. It's gonna hurt like hell for a while, but you're ok."

The Judoon tromped up to them; Connor pointed down the road. "He went that way a minute ago." They headed past without stopping and he looked back at Clyde. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I'm...I think so."

Connor hauled him to his feet, waiting while he steadied himself. "Come on. The others are in the hospital." He led him down the street, ready to catch him each time he wavered.

Luke met them at the door. He was pale and caught at Clyde as soon as he saw them. "What happened?"

"Korst." Clyde sank down the nearest wall, rubbing his throat.

"You found him?"

"He found us. Nearly had me, twice." He glanced up at Connor. "Did I say thanks yet, mate?"

Connor shrugged, hauling him to his feet again. "Come on. There's probably some running water inside, we'll get a wet cloth on that. It'll help a bit."

"I'll take him." Luke pulled Clyde's arm around his shoulder, leading him in.

The girls were waiting in the nursery. Sky threw herself at Clyde, wrapping her arms around him, and it took both Luke and Connor to keep him on his feet. "Sky, he's hurt," Luke warned her. "Be careful."

Sky backed away, staring at them. "What happened?"

"Can you look for a tap, please, Sky?" Luke pulled his scarf off. "Get this nice and wet, ok? Not dripping, just wet." Sky nodded, taking it and hurrying away. Connor trailed after her.

"Korst?" Dawn touched Clyde's chin, tilting his head gently.

"Ow," Clyde told her.

"Sorry."

"Korst," Luke agreed. "Connor beat him off."

"He's good at that. Did he catch him?"

"No," Clyde muttered. "Korst got me and Connor had to promise not to chase him."

"Today," Connor said from the door. Clyde jumped. "I promised not to chase him today."

"Man, are you a ninja or something?" Clyde groused. Sky reappeared, holding the scarf; Clyde grinned, wrapping it carefully around his throat. "Thanks, Sparky."

"Are you ok?" she asked seriously, tucking the end of the scarf in for him.

"I'm fine. He just pushed me around a bit. That's all."

"Will you be able to find him tomorrow?" Luke asked Connor.

"Yeah. I know where he was and I have his scent now. He won't get away."

"Scent?" Clyde repeated. "OK. Luke, I think I need a catch up. Korst called him a demon."

"I'm not a demon," Connor said irritably.

"His parents, on the other hand..." Dawn murmured.

"Vampires, yeah, ok."

"What?" Clyde protested.

"Vampires," Connor repeated, enunciating carefully.

"You mean plasmavores," Luke told him.

"What? No, vampires. You know, blood, teeth, stake through the heart. What's a plasmavore?"

"It's an alien that drinks blood."

"Right, a vampire," Connor agreed.

"No, it's an alien."

"Does it look human?"

"Depends what it's been drinking."

"Ok," Dawn said quickly. "You have aliens that are vampires, we have demons that are vampires. His parents were the demon type."

"So how are you not a demon?" Clyde asked. "That's genetics. Your parents were demons, you're a demon."

"No, because vampires are demons in human bodies. Connor's human," Dawn said. "Good senses and strong and fast, but human." Luke started to say something, and she added, "If you're human with your brains and Sky's human with her electric powers, Connor's human too."

"All right," Luke agreed.

"Luke!" Clyde protested.

"No, that's right," he insisted. "We're human. So is he. So is Dawn."

"Wait, Dawn? What's up with Dawn?"

"At some point," Dawn said thoughtfully, "it might save time if we just sit everyone down, and we all tell each other everything. This is not that time."

Luke glanced up as a Judoon came in, reporting to Tybo. When he'd gone Luke called, "What's happening, Captain Tybo?"

"Slitheen Korst has escaped our pursuit."

Connor grimaced, glancing at his watch. "When is sundown?"

"Six forty two," Luke said automatically. "Why?"

"Trust you to know that," Clyde muttered.

"Clyde, your throat must be really hurting. You should rest it," Luke said kindly.

"Yeah, cheers, Luke."

"Once the sun goes down it's not today anymore," Connor said, ignoring the two.

"Connor, Korst is a killer alien trying to destroy the world. Who cares if you don't keep your word?" Clyde pointed out.

Connor shrugged, looking vaguely uncomfortable. "It's the principle of the thing."

"We won't tell him you're the one who found him."

Connor glanced at Dawn, who nodded. "I don't think your word really counts to aliens who want to destroy the world."

"Don't go alone," Clyde added.

"Why not?"

"Because he was after you. He said it. He came back to try and stop you from – something."

"And you didn't mention that?" Luke asked.

"Hey! Injured! You're lucky I remember how to talk at all."

"We're all very grateful," Connor agreed blandly. Clyde made a face at him.

"What did he say exactly?" Luke asked.

"He said he'd travelled seventy years to keep Connor from defeating him."

"He said you," Connor corrected him. "He could have meant either of us."

"It's not likely I'm the one who defeats him. I was the hostage, remember?"

"You're the one who actually knows anything about him."

Sky rolled her eyes. "Boys! Whichever of you he meant, neither of you should be alone right now. Yes?"

"Don't worry, Sky, I'm not going anywhere," Clyde promised.

Connor glanced at Dawn, who folded her arms. "No, you don't get to buck the rules."

"I'll call one of the girls."

"They're an hour away."

"The Judoon are too slow."

"I can..."

"No," he said firmly.

Luke winced. "I'll go with you."

"Luke," Clyde protested.

"It's me or no one, and Sky's right. You can't be alone." He looked back at Connor. "I'm not as quick as you, but I'll do my best."

"All right," Connor agreed.

"Connor!"

"It's Luke or I don't go hunting," Connor told him. "That's the choice. I'll go on my own, Korst won't get near me."

"Fine," Dawn surrendered. "Take care of him."

"I will."

Luke glanced at Clyde. "Keep an eye on Sky, yeah?"

"I've got her, mate. No problem."

Sky rolled her eyes and submitted to Luke's hug. "I'm not a child, you know."

"Says the girl who was so proud to claim she was less than a year old," he teased gently. "I'll be back in a while, Sky High."

"Be careful," she ordered.

"Yeah. Clyde, will you check in with Mum please?"

"Aww, do I have to? She's mad at me."

"She won't be once you tell her you're hurt. Just call her." He looped K9's whistle over Sky's head, grinning at her and heading away after Connor.

 

Connor promised he was taking it easy. Twenty minutes into the hunt, Luke was determined never to either piss Connor off or go with him on a real hunt.

Korst was apparently trying to avoid them. At least, Connor kept darting down alleys and bouncing up fire escapes. Luke had given up following him up; he invariably came back down a few buildings later. Luke just trailed him on the ground, keeping an eye on the roofline to track him.

The trail wound back and forth, almost crossing itself a couple of times. Luke followed Connor patiently for nearly half an hour before calling a halt.

"What is it?" Connor asked, leaning against the wall. He wasn't even out of breath, Luke noted, irritated.

"I want to check something." He pulled out Connor's phone, typing rapidly at it.

"What are you doing?"

"GPS."

"It doesn't have GPS."

Luke grinned at him. "It does now. Look." He tilted the screen towards him.

Connor studied the map with a grin. "Ok. You're definitely not evil. Except that you're stealing that GPS from somewhere."

"No, I programmed it in."

"Just now?"

"I'm very good. Look, this is what I was checking." He typed for a moment before tilting the screen back again. "That's our path. That's the way Korst is going."

Connor studied it, looking around. "North. What's north of here?"

"The Rift runs north–south through the town. Captain Tybo showed me. It's strongest under the hospital, but he can access it almost anywhere on the line."

"What is a rift, exactly?"

"A sort of tear in space and time. Things tend to fall through, sometimes. Sort of flotsam and jetsam, but alien."

"A hellmouth."

"A what?"

Connor started walking north. "A hellmouth. It's a mystical rip in dimensions, it attracts demons and other nasties. Dawn grew up on one."

"For six years?"

"For three. They closed it after that. There's one in Cleveland, one in Asia, one in Australia. It's partly why LA is weird. It's close to the old closed one and we got the overflow."

"So some of your demons might have been aliens?"

"Some of your aliens were probably demons. Extra dimensional." He glanced around suddenly. "Something's weird around here."

"What?"

"I don't know. Something in the air. Can you sense anything?"

"No. I'm not very good at picking up on things like that. Shame Sky isn't here. She'd know if there was anything electrical going on. Do you think it's dangerous?"

"Not dangerous, exactly. It's...I don't know. It's weird. Don't suppose you can turn that phone into a scanner?"

"That's a hardware thing, not software. If I had parts I could, but..." he shrugged. Glancing up, he added, "Actually, now I can feel that."

"What do you feel?"

"Electrostatic discharge."

"In English?"

Luke shook his head sharply. "Um, cloaking device. Something's hidden here." He extended one hand, cautiously feeling the air in front of him.

"What kind of something?"

"I don't know. That's why it's hidden. Last time, it was a ship, and then a Sontaran – an alien warrior." He patted the air warily. "Clyde met a Metalkind, an alien made of metal –" 

"A robot?"

"No, because they'd evolved that way the way we evolved in flesh. Sky's creator was a fleshkind. The metalkind could cloak themselves." Luke's fingers brushed over nothing and ripples fanned out. "Not a metalkind. Or a Sontaran." he probed further, watching the ripples. "I'm not sure what this is, actually."

"Really big," Connor offered, walking away and dragging one hand along the cloak. He got some distance away before the ripples died out. "And high," he added, craning his neck back. "What's he doing?"

"Rift opens faster the more it's used." Luke murmured. "Korst's trying to force the Rift open so he can draw the power he needs more quickly."

Connor studied the ripples for a moment before spinning, launching a kick at the machine. The ripples flew out in all directions, followed by a shower of sparks. 

"That's one way to deal with it, I suppose," Luke muttered. "Go again, Connor."

"Can't you get the cloak down?"

"Yes, if I could see the wiring, I'd be able to."

"Right. So you can't see to take down the cloak until I take down the cloak." Sighing, Connor started attacking the machine in various spots, searching for weaknesses. Luke watched, mapping the sparks and ripples, trying to get an idea of the layout of the machine.

The cloak finally flickered and went offline. Connor backed off, leaning over and bracing his hands against his knees, sucking in a breath. "You ok?" Luke asked absently, studying the revealed machine.

"Yeah, fine. Can you break this thing? Or fix the Rift, whatever?"

"There's no fixing a Rift. We can slow it, maybe, but we can't fix it. Once it's open it's open."

"Buffy sealed hers."

"Sealed. Not closed. It'll pop back up at some point, decades or centuries from now. Trust me, I know someone who's been watching the Cardiff Rift for a few hundred years."

"A few hundred?" Connor repeated.

"He doesn't stay dead. It's a thing." Luke waved it off, poking tentatively at a keyboard mounted on the machine. "Is Korst around?"

"No. Why?"

"Because I can reprogram this to slow the Rift, but it'll take some time and I can't stop once I start. It's a difficult program."

"Do it. I'll make sure you're not disturbed."

"Sure?"

"Yes. Go on."

Luke nodded, turning back to the screen. "All right, then."

When he surfaced a little later from the reprogramming – Slitheen was not fun to read – Connor was standing directly over him, one hand on his shoulder. "Back with me?" he asked softly.

"Yeah. Sorry. What's wrong?"

"Not wrong. Korst's nearby somewhere, but he's trying to draw me off and I didn't want to leave you. Are you done?"

"Yep. And I've locked it so he won't be able to alter it. This machine is now holding the Rift together. Korst won't be getting out of here any time soon."

"Is he likely to call in reinforcements, then?"

Luke shook his head. "He can't. Korst's only a child in this timeline. The Family already gave him a chance to run his own hunt, and we messed it up. They won't give him another chance, and this Korst can't claim to be anyone else, they'd know. Unless he wants to hire mercenaries, he's on his own."

"Will he do that?"

"Slitheen don't, usually. It's a source of pride for them, they do their own hunting." He flicked a switch and the cloak came back on.

"I didn't damage it that badly, then."

"No, you did. I'm just very good." Luke grinned at him. "So where's Korst?"

"Back towards the hospital. But close by." Catching Luke's look, he added, "They're surrounded by Judoon. They're safe."

"Yeah, I know. Come on."

They headed back as quickly as Luke could move.

"So do you have any cool mind powers?" Connor asked, loping along behind him.

Luke shook his head. "Potential, but no ability."

"Not something you can learn?"

"Not."

"Shame. Brainy is good, but telekinesis or something would be better."

"Not as much fun as you think."

Connor caught his arm, jerking him to a halt and swinging him around to press against the nearest building. "Shush," he said warningly. Luke nodded, listening carefully. Connor tilted his head, tracking for a moment before looking upwards. Luke followed his look to see a shadow move above them on the roof of the three story building.

"Don't move," Connor breathed, pressing him more firmly against the wall. Luke nodded again and Connor withdrew, vanishing.

Someone yelled overhead and someone was punched. Luke looked upwards, but the edge of the roof was in his way and he couldn't see anything.

Until Korst came flying over the edge of the roof, crashing to the ground in front of Luke. Connor landed in a crouch beside him, grinning victoriously.

"That hurt!" Korst protested, rolling to try and get one arm under his back. Connor stepped on his shoulder, pressing him down.

"It was supposed to. You know, it's lucky you're so fat. Otherwise, you might just have exploded. Or broken a bone."

"Fat jokes," Korst muttered.

Luke pulled out Connor's phone, flicking through the phone book until he found Dawn's number. "Dawn, we found Korst. Clyde's phone will tell you where we are, I've put GPS on this phone."

"I can get him back," Connor protested.

"Yeah, but better to be safe. Just in case." He listened to the phone for a minute. "Great. Thanks, Dawn."

"This is abuse," Korst protested, trying to wriggle free.

"Yeah, I'm ok with that," Connor told him. "Hold still or I really will break something."

"What are you trying to stop, Korst?" Luke asked.

"Who says I'm trying to stop anything?"

He grinned. "It's been a while for you, hasn't it? Since you've seen me? It hasn't been so long for me. I know you. Just because you failed at your first two hunts..."

"I did not!"

"Yes, you did. You tried stealing all of Earth's power, and we stopped you. You tried taking my power, and I stopped you. That was your hunt, wasn't it? With Mr Smith? And you failed at it. You've failed again now."

"That's what you think," Korst muttered.

"I've stopped your machine. It's sealing the Rift now, not opening it. Your manipulator won't work. You won't be able to escape, even if you get away from us."

"Hey," Connor protested.

"Sorry."

"Did you learn how to make speeches from Sarah Jane?" Korst spat.

"Why the storm, Korst? What was the point of that?"

"Figure it out. You're the brains, right? Figure it out."

Luke glanced up as the Judoon clumped into view at the far end of the road. "Connor."

"Yeah." Connor leaned more heavily on Korst, pinning him in place as he struggled.

"One chance, Korst," Luke said quickly. "You've got about thirty seconds. Tell us why you're here and Connor'll let you go. You can find a way off this planet. Never come back."

"I'll let him go?" Connor repeated.

"Or don't tell us and spend your life in a Judoon prison. I've heard of them. You don't want to end up there."

"It'd be worth it to spite you, Luke Smith," Korst said angrily.

"If you think so." Luke shrugged, folding his arms and leaning against the wall. "I saw Androvax the Veil, you know, when he escaped from the Calysteral Cluster. Moxolon swamp viper venom was killing him. They'll probably like you. Lots to chew on."

Korst snarled. "You'll let me go?"

"As long as you leave the planet straight away. And trust me, we'll know."

He jerked. "Get off me, then." Connor glanced at Luke; at his nod he rolled to his feet, standing between Luke and Korst.

"Ten seconds, Korst," Luke warned him.

"The Slayer's alien team stopped me. Twenty years from now, as I was about to finally avenge my father, they stopped me. I came here to stop you from forming that team. Sent the storm to expose you to Connor."

"Why?"

Korst laughed. "It's no secret Connor Angel hates magic and all forms of oddness."

"Oh." Connor grinned. "You almost made it, Korst. Connor Angel might have killed Sky. But this is Connor Reilly. You're two years too late."

"You brought us together," Luke said. "We might never have joined up if you hadn't sent that storm."

Korst snarled, taking one step towards them. The Judoon yelled, lifting their weapons; Connor rolled his eyes, allowing Korst to shove him to one side and make his escape.

"Ow," he said, deadpan. "That hurt. Darn it. I can't run. Blast. Get back here, Korst."

Luke grinned, propping him up as the Judoon reached them. "He overpowered us! He went that way, hurry!" The Judoon headed off and he let go of Connor. "Sorry."

"Will he leave?"

"Probably." Luke pulled out the mobile, dialling quickly. "Mum? Korst just left us heading west. Can you get Mr Smith to track him? He's supposed to be leaving."

_"You let him go?"_

"Long story. Can you track him?"

 _"Tracking now,"_ Mr Smith said.

"Good. Let us know if he tries anything?"

_"We will. Luke, you be careful."_

"Yes, Mum. Don't worry. I'll send Sky home with Clyde, all right?"

_"All right. I'll talk to you soon."_

Luke hung up, glancing at Connor. "Think you can make it back on your own?"

"You're funny. Let's go."

 

"So...vampires? Really? I mean, really really?"

"Yes," Dawn said wearily. "Really, really."

"And daylight? Stake through the heart? Crosses, holy water?"

"All of it."

"Throwing seeds on the floor?"

"Not that one."

"Mirrors."

"Yes. I mean, no reflection."

"Running water?"

"No."

"Fog, crows, wolves?"

"Only Dracula."

"What, for real? You've really met Dracula? I mean, Dracula?"

"I haven't, I wasn't born yet. But yeah."

"What about..."

Luke and Connor came back in and Dawn all but threw herself at them. "You're back! What happened?"

"Korst's gone. He won't be causing any more trouble." Luke wrapped an arm around Sky's shoulders. "Hey, Sky High. Everything ok?"

"Fine. Clyde's been learning all about vampires."

"Has he." Connor glanced at Dawn, eyebrows raised.

"More or less."

"Where are the Judoon?" Luke asked, glancing around.

"They all went out after you. Captain Tybo left one on guard somewhere, but we haven't seen him."

Connor frowned. "At all?"

"He went to do a perimeter or whatever." Dawn glanced around. "Although that was a while ago."

Connor straightened, glancing around. "Clyde, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Why?" He was hoarse and the bruises on his neck were starting to stand out, but apart from that he looked fine.

"Want to help me with something? Over here."

"Yeah, sure." Clyde followed him to the far door where they started talking quietly before slipping into the corridor.

"He wasn't bothering you too much, was he?" Luke asked.

"What, Clyde? I lived with Andrew for a year. Clyde's fine."

"Who's Andrew?" Sky asked, perching on the edge of the table.

"He's a friend of ours. Really big geek. He's a good guy." She glanced at the far door, crossing quietly to push it mostly closed.

Luke caught her eye when she turned, lifting his eyebrow questioningly. Dawn shook her head, coming back to join them. "So he's been asking me all about vampires, but I haven't heard much about aliens. Except Slitheen and Judoon, but I think I know enough about those. What else is out there?"

"There's hundreds of them." Luke thought for a moment. "There's a race called Star Poets. They're sort of – they look like energy shaped like a human, kind of pink or purple usually. And they just travel around telling stories and poems to other worlds, spreading histories and news and myths. They're beautiful. My friend Maria, the first alien she ever saw was a Star Poet."

"Have you been to other worlds?"

"No. I've been into space, though. I've seen the Earth from a spaceship. It's unbelievable."

"I was born on another planet," Sky offered. "I don't really remember it, though."

"That's so cool. I was born in some monastery somewhere, but I don't remember that either."

Something crashed on the other side of the door, and Clyde yelled "Sorry! Everything's fine, no worries!"

"What are they doing?" Sky asked curiously.

Dawn caught Luke's eye before she answered. "They're blocking the corridor outside the door."

"They're blocking us in?"

"The Judoon are coming back. Forting up is a better move than keeping an exit that could also be an entrance."

"What?"

"Connor's worried that Korst might come back here, Sky High," Luke explained quietly. "Captain Tybo's guard should be back; there's nothing here to protect except us. If that door is blocked, there's only one way in, and we can defend that until the Judoon come back."

"You said he was gone."

"We let him escape from the Judoon and told him to leave the planet. Mr Smith's watching him. It's just in case, I promise."

"All right," she agreed quietly.

"So I have this friend Xander," Dawn said, dropping into a seat. "He's not any kind of mystical anything, but he was born and grew up on the Hellmouth, and..."

"Hellmouth?" Sky said.

"Rift," Luke told her. "We call it a Rift, like in Cardiff. It seems like it's mostly the same."

"Ok."

"So Xander grew up on the Hellmouth, and demons are always getting attracted to him. Loads of vampires try and eat him, and there was a mummy girl, and Anya, and some kind of cat demoness. And Dracula. Dracula put him under mind control, he was running around eating spiders and saying..." She coughed hastily. "Really inappropriate things. And there was the time he accidentally put the whole town under a spell where we kept bursting into song."

"Like, singing along to a radio?"

"No." Dawn grinned. "That would have been easy. No, this was more like a musical. We were all coming up with songs off the top of our heads, and there was dancing, really complicated dancing, and whole orchestras that weren't really there but we could hear them. My class at school had this whole song about how much we hated math, and the teacher kept trying to put in 'But math is fun! And useful, too!' and we just kept singing over her. Good times."

Luke caught her eye, smiled faintly, and slipped past her to the rear door. Dawn kept talking, telling Sky about the time everyone in town lost their voices – "I wasn't technically there, but I have all these memories of it..." – as Luke edged through the narrow gap.

"Come to help at last?" Clyde dropped the table he'd been dragging, leaning on it to catch his breath. "About time."

Luke made a face at him, turning to study the barricade. "It won't stop a Slitheen."

"That's what I keep saying, but Connor's off setting tripwires or something. He says if we actually have to depend on this, we've already lost."

"Then why are we building it?"

"Deterrent? I don't know. I just go where I'm pointed."

Luke smiled. "You do more than that, Clyde. Ok. Don't put that in yet. Let me look at this."

"Aw, man, you're going to make me tear it out and start again, aren't you?"

"No. Just...take that chair out, and move it over. That way you get..."

"Don't bother explaining, I won't get it. This one?"

"Yep."

Under Luke's guidance they moved half a dozen pieces, solidifying the barricade. Luke then helped Clyde move more pieces, adding them in to create a solid wall across the corridor.

"How's Connor going to get back over?" Clyde asked, carefully wedging a chair into place.

"By jumping, probably." Luke added a bedside locker, stepping back to eye the overall effect. "I think that's almost it. A couple more bits should do it."

"Good. I'm wrecked." Clyde leaned against the barricade, grinning when it didn't budge. "Hey, look."

"Yeah, but be fair. A Slitheen's a lot stronger than you are."

"That's right, trample on my masculinity."

"What masculinity?"

Clyde shoved him, heading off for the next pile of chairs.

 

Connor turned up a little later – as Luke had predicted, he just vaulted over the barricade – and studied it critically. "Looks good," he said finally.

"Clyde did it," Luke told him.

"Luke did it," Clyde corrected him. "I just carried stuff around."

"No, he did most of it."

"You both get a lollipop. Come on."

"What's wrong?" Luke demanded, catching his arm to keep him from going back into the nursery.

"I checked most of the hospital. I can't find the Judoon anywhere. No sign of him. No trace of Korst, but something took the rhino out."

"Not a rhino," Luke said automatically, looking at Clyde.

"Hey. We just need to hang on until the Judoon get back, right? They'll give up looking for Korst at some point, or Tybo'll try to check in and come back when he realises something's wrong."

"I still have this," Connor offered, holding up the communicator. "I could set off the distress call."

Luke shook his head. "We don't know anything's really wrong yet. The guard could have just fallen, or something. Captain Tybo won't be happy if we use that when we don't need to."

"Luke!" Dawn called from inside the room. "You there?"

Luke ducked through the gap in the door; Sky pressed herself against him, shaking. "Hey," he said gently, shuffling her to one side so the others could get in. "What's wrong, Sky High?"

"There's power downstairs. I mean, no," she corrected herself. "There was. A huge burst, and now it's gone."

"There's no power coming into the hospital, Sky."

"I know. It didn't come in. It was just here, and then it wasn't. A burst."

Luke nodded, frowning. "Downstairs?"

"In the basement."

"I'll go and..."

"No!" She wrapped her arms more tightly around him.

"Sky High, I have to."

"Just wait for Captain Tybo. Please, Luke."

"I can't. We need to know."

"I'll go," Clyde said. "Just to look around," he added at Luke's look. "See if I can spot anything."

"Be _careful._ "

"I'll go with him," Dawn said. "Keep him out of trouble."

"Dawn..." Connor started.

"Stay here. We're just looking around." She glanced at Sky and back at Connor, who nodded reluctantly.

"Here." He pitched a torch to Clyde. "Don't use it any more than you have to. It'll kill your night vision and alert anything out there that you're coming."

"Cheers." Clyde stuck it into his pocket and crooked his arm for Dawn. "Shall we?"

"We shall." She grinned at Connor. "Ten minutes. I promise. Then you can come running in to save us, all right?" Connor made a show of checking his watch and she grinned, heading out.

"Let's sit down, Sky high," Luke murmured, leading her over to a bench. Sky went willingly but when they sat she curled against him, holding on tightly. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. It made me afraid." She shivered. "It felt bad."

"Ok. We'll take care of it. Promise. Are you cold? Where'd you put my jacket?"

Connor brought it over and leaned against the wall, watching as Luke tucked it around her and kept up a stream of nothing in particular, soothing her into sleep.

"She ok?" he murmured when Luke finally stopped.

"She's...tired. The storm yesterday messed her up a bit, she's not quite herself."

"Messed her up?"

"The power in it – she literally couldn't sleep. Couldn't stop moving. She got an hour or so before we left this morning."

"And you?"

Luke shrugged, tugging gently at the edge of the jacket and tucking it around her. "I don't need as much sleep as other people."

"Handy for all nighters."

He smiled. "Yeah. It's definitely helped me out a couple times."

Connor watched them for a minute. "Why do you call her Sky High?"

"Hmm?"

"Sky High. Clyde calls her Sparky."

"Oh – that's from when she was a baby, she kept blowing out bulbs and computers. Not on purpose."

"Sounds like fun."

"Mr Smith hid in the wall for two days. He just wouldn't come out." Connor smiled, and Luke continued, "Mum adopted her while I was at Oxford. We talked on the computer a couple of times, but I was pretty nervous the first time I met her for real, and I kept saying 'Sky, hi, hi, Sky.' Plus, you know..." He gestured vaguely. "Sky high."

Connor nodded. "It's nice."

"She hasn't complained yet."

"My little sister would have."

Luke smiled faintly. "Most would, I think. Sky and me, we're – well, weird. Since we're so young, maybe."

"Maybe," Connor agreed. "You wouldn't know from Sky."

"She has better social skills than I do. I knew a lot, when I was activated. All the facts from ten thousand minds. But people, I couldn't understand people at all. They're not logical, they don't make sense. It takes work to understand them. It's hard sometimes."

Connor considered for a moment. "I tried to kill my father." He looked up to meet Luke's eyes. "Angel is my father. I was a few months old when an enemy of his kidnapped me and took me to another dimension. I spent seventeen years there with the man I called Father, learning to hate Angel. When I came back only a few days had passed here. I tried to kill Angel, I tried again and again."

"I've never done that. But then I don't have a father. I did help turn off the sun once."

"Yeah, I've done that. Well, blocked it out. LA, city of eternal night."

"Really?" Luke eyed him. "I nearly crashed the moon into the earth."

"I helped almost bring about the end of the world."

"Really? How?"

"World peace." Luke laughed, startled, and Connor insisted "Really. There was a goddess promising world peace, she took over everyone who saw or heard her. But to maintain herself she ate a bunch of people every day. I was, like, the second person she took over. I was her right hand guy."

"When was this?"

"2003."

"Oh. I wasn't even born then."

Sky stirred and both fell silent, watching her. When she settled again Luke glanced up at Connor. "They've been gone a while."

"Yes."

"Longer than ten minutes."

"Yes."

"Are you going after them?"

"And leave you two here alone? Dawn knew I wouldn't do that."

"Dawn's your friend."

Connor grinned suddenly. "So are you."

 

 

Clyde was doing his best not to use the torch, but the fourth time he walked into a wall he gave up, flipping it on and pointing it at the floor.

"Hey," Dawn complained half–heartedly.

"Oh, like you can see any better than I can. I heard you walk into that spider web." Raising his voice an octave, he whined, "Ew, ew, get it off! Ew, it's in my hair!"

"That doesn't count! Spider webs are a get–out–of–jail–free card. Don't you know any girls?"

"Yes!"

"Oh, yeah, Rani. And Maria, right? Luke talks about them."

"Maria's in America, but yeah. They're my mates."

"I'm looking forward to meeting them."

"Maria's in America," Clyde said again.

"Yes. America. Where I live." She grinned at him.

"When you're not tromping around basements in London, anyway."

"Oh, there's plenty of that at home, too. Vampires love basements. And sewers. And tunnels. I'm surprised Sunnydale stayed up as long as it did, there were so many tunnels and passages and caves underneath it."

Clyde glanced around uneasily. "Vampires. Just what I needed to be thinking about right now."

"Oh, come on. You must have met some creepy types."

"Well, yeah. We did have a haunted house. Turned out they were just sucked into another dimension, though. And there was the Nightmare Man. He was really scary."

"We got trapped in nightmares once. They were in the real world, though. Buffy got turned into a vampire."

"Sounds like a nightmare," Clyde agreed, peering carefully through a half–open door.

"Luke says he's been in space."

"Yeah. So've I. Twice. He's only been once."

"What was it like?"

Clyde considered. "Weird. We were running around a ship and it was just like this, or like a factory or something, but then we'd pass by a viewport and – Earth was just...there, you know. Just hanging there. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. The ship itself wasn't that weird, once you got used to the Uvodni."

"Uvodni?"

"Kind of like a massive fly. He was recruiting kids who were good at laser tag to become soldiers in a war that he didn't realise had ended ten years before."

"Sounds like a lot of fun."

"The laser tag was." He leaned around a corner, eyeing the corridor. "How big is this place?"

"Huge, I'm guessing."

"Thanks, that's helpful."

Dawn shrugged. "Hospitals tend to be. Especially older ones like this." She hesitated, studying the wall. "Clyde, point the torch up here."

"Why?" He obeyed, watching her touch black marks on the wall.

"Burn marks."

"In a line like that?" Clyde traced the mark down the wall, across the floor, up the other side and across the roof. "In a circle?"

The Judoon guard appeared around a corner. Clyde jumped, turning to face him. "Man, for something so big you can really sneak. Where've you been?"

"So bo ko jo do!"

"Oh. Yeah, that's helpful, thanks."

"I thought they all spoke English," Dawn said softly.

"I guess this one didn't learn. Or its translator is broken or something."

The Judoon gestured down the corridor the way it had come. Clyde shrugged at Dawn, heading down after it. Dawn grimaced, following him.

"Clyde, this isn't right," she murmured after a few minutes. "This is deeper into the basement, not back up to the others."

"Maybe he wants to show us something." Clyde glanced over his shoulder at her. "Look, the Judoon are the good guys. More or less. They're not going to hurt us."

"I'm going back to the others. Connor'll be coming after us soon."

"Will he?"

"No," she muttered. "He won't leave Sky and Luke on their own. Stupid noble streak, of all the things to inherit from Angel...Hey!" The Judoon turned and she took a half step away. "I'm going back to the others."

"Jo bo ko so do mo lo!"

"Yes, I know. But I'm going back anyway." She turned away.

"Dawn!" 

Clyde pushed her into the wall as the Judoon fired at them. "So bo ko jo ma ho!"

"All right, all right! We're following you! We're not going back upstairs!"

"Clyde," Dawn said softly, "I don't think he's on our side."

"No. I don't think he is." Clyde rose, holding out a hand to help her up.

"We're going with him?"

"We don't have much choice. He can shoot us faster than we can run away. Come on." He followed the Judoon down the corridor.

They walked for a couple of minutes more before reaching a larger, more open area. Clyde glanced around; a window high on one wall let in enough light to show him a mostly bare room, and the tall blonde standing with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, great." He folded his arms, studying her. "I thought you were gone."

The blonde looked him up and down. "Clint, wasn't it?"

"Clyde."

"Yes." She waved it away. "Where is my daughter?"

"She's not here."

"Liar. I tracked her here. But my scanner won't work in an area this small. I want you to go and get her and bring her here to me."

"Uh, how about no? You don't get within fifty feet of Sky."

"Ah," Dawn said. "This would be Miss Myers, then."

"Remember, she spells it the alien way!"

Dawn studied her. "At least Sky didn't inherit her looks."

"She didn't inherit anything. Least of all the megalomania."

"Careful, Cliff."

"Clyde!"

Miss Myers gestured sharply and the Judoon took a step forward, catching Dawn's arm and jerking her into the centre of the room. "Bring me Sky, or I will kill this one."

"No," Dawn said immediately. "Clyde, don't do it."

Clyde bit his lip, studying her. "All right," he said finally. "I'll go get her."

"Clyde!"

"I'll get her," he repeated. "Get that thing to let Dawn go."

The Judoon let her go and she scrambled back towards Clyde. "Don't you dare," she hissed, slapping him. "Bastard!"

"Shut the hell up, I'm saving your life!"

"By exchanging it for hers?"

"Hurry up," Miss Myers ordered. Clyde nodded, backing away and hurrying out.

It took him a while to retrace his steps. He kept hitting dead ends and having to backtrack, but eventually he was hurrying along the corridor to the nursery. He yelled Connor's name as he burst in, partly to warn them he was coming.

"Shush!" Luke glared at him, arms wrapped around Sky.

"Sorry." Clyde bent over, hands braced on his knees. "Connor, we have a problem."

"Where's Dawn?"

"That would be the problem." He straightened, looking at Luke. "Miss Myers is downstairs."

"WHA –" Luke caught himself, glancing down to make sure Sky was still asleep. "What?" he repeated, much more softly.

"She's got that Judoon under control same way she had that power station worker, and they've got Dawn. She wants Sky."

"Why? She can't use her anymore."

"Maybe she thinks she can. I don't know. But I figured Connor could sneak up on them or something."

Connor shook his head. "I can't take out a Judoon. Not quickly, anyway. They're too big."

"What? I thought you were all super strong!"

"Strong, yeah. They're still bigger than me. And pretty tough, from what I've seen."

"That's what makes them good policemen, I suppose," Luke muttered.

"It sure isn't their brains," Clyde agreed. "Look, we've got to do something. It took me too long to get back up here. She's got Dawn, Luke."

"I can't give her Sky. She'll kill her trying to wipe out the Metalkind." He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Connor, I can't."

"Yeah, I know." Connor thought quickly. "Clyde, there's a plan of the basement here. Can you show me where she is?"

"I think so, yeah. Somewhere on the outside of the building, anyway, there was a window. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I can."

"Connor..."

"Let me see where it is, Luke. See if I can come up with anything." He dug the plan out of a pile, spreading it out for Clyde to study.

Sky stirred, rolling her head to one side to watch them. "What's happening?" she murmured.

"I...nothing, Sky High. Go back to sleep."

She shook her head, sitting up. "I'm not tired now. What's going on?" She watched Connor and Clyde for a moment before looking back at Luke, eyes wide. "What's wrong?"

Luke flinched. "Why do you think something's wrong?"

"Mostly because I'm not stupid. What is it, Luke?"

"Tell her," Connor said without looking up.

"Connor..."

"Tell her! I have a plan here, and she needs to know."

Luke winced, nodding. "Sky, Miss Myers is downstairs."

"What?" Sky jerked off the seat, taking a step or two away.

"That's the power surge you felt, her coming in. She's got the Judoon under her control and Dawn as a hostage for you."

"Luke, what..."

"It's all right, Sky High. We're not going to let her get you. Promise." He glanced up at Connor. "There's a plan."


	6. Chapter Five

"Do you know how many people have taken me hostage?"

"Shut up."

"I've lost track. They're all dead now." Dawn considered. "Well, maybe not Harmony. Who knows about her. But all the others are."

"Shut up."

"You have no idea what you've done, have you. I'm the Slayer's sister."

"Ooooh, sounds terrifying," Miss Myers mocked her. "Now shut up."

"Why don't you..."

Miss Myers slapped her across the face, almost knocking her into the wall. "Shut. Up."

Dawn scowled, rubbing at her cheek, but stayed silent. Pissing Miss Myers off was one thing. Getting herself hurt or restrained so she couldn't help when Connor came was another.

"What are we doing?" Sky asked from the corridor just outside.

"We're just checking something out, Sparky," Clyde answered loudly.

They rounded the corner into the room; Sky stopped short, eyes on Miss Myers, but Clyde tugged her after him.

"Ah," Miss Myers said. "Sky. How are you, my daughter?"

"Clyde, let me go!" Sky yanked at her hand, trying to get free.

"Sky, stop it!" Clyde jerked her in front of him and wrapped an arm around her to hold her steady. "Where's Dawn?" he demanded.

"That brat?" Miss Myers glanced over her shoulder to where Dawn was standing. "Give me my daughter, and you can have her."

"No!" Sky twisted against Clyde, trying to get free.

"Dawn, c'mere," Clyde said, eyes on Miss Myers.

"Sky!"

Luke shot out of the entrance, colliding with Clyde and Sky. They went down in a heap; Luke scrambled to his feet, pulling Sky free and shoving her towards the entrance.

Connor dropped noiselessly through the window, scooped up a piece of pipe, and smashed the Judoon across the head. It turned, eyeing him curiously, and threw him into a wall.

"Dawn, come on!" Luke yelled, shoving Clyde until he got to his feet.

"Kill them!" Miss Myers shrieked. The Judoon pulled out its weapon; Connor spin kicked it out of his hand, sending it flying into a corner. The Judoon shrugged and smacked him again, knocking him off his feet.

"Dawn, go!" he ordered. Dawn slipped past Miss Myers, joining Clyde at the door. Luke was already gone, chasing Sky.

"Come on." Clyde caught her arm, tugging her after them.

"Connor..."

"He's fine, this is his plan!"

"His plan was to terrify Sky?"

Clyde grinned at her. "Sky knew exactly what was going on."

Connor overtook them from behind. "Come on, that thing's on our tails!"

"I thought you were going to take it out!" Clyde protested.

"Yeah, well I left my rocket launcher in my other pants. Come on! Where're Luke and Sky?"

"Back upstairs, I hope!"

Connor scowled, glancing around. "Keep going!" he ordered, peeling off through a side corridor.

There was no one in the nursery. Clyde stopped in the corridor outside; Dawn darted in, rapidly gathering up their things.

"What are you doing?" Clyde asked from outside.

"Getting ready to leave."

"I thought we were forting up!"

"Not anymore, now we know that Judoon's after us. We'll have to go. How are you feeling?"

"Why, is my health very important?"

"Could be."

He shook his head. "I'm fine. Where are the others?"

"They'll be coming." Dawn finished gathering her things, coming back to stand at his shoulder.

Luke and Connor appeared, Connor carrying Sky and Luke with one hand pressed against his forehead. "Here." He carefully passed her to Clyde. "She tripped over something, twisted her ankle. Got her?"

"Yeah."

Connor glanced at Dawn. "Ready?"

"Yep." She held up her bag. "What's up with Luke?"

"Banged into a wall. He's all right. Come on." Connor pulled the Judoon communicator from his pocket, set off the alarm and hid it under a desk. "Let's go."

"Clyde, what's Miss Myers likely to do?" Dawn asked, hurrying along at his elbow to steady him.

"Who knows. She probably won't give up, though. Only thing that stopped her last time was being taken prisoner by the Metalkind. You all right, Sparky?"

"Yes."

Clyde glanced down at her as best he could. "We won't let her get you. You know that."

"Yes."

Connor moved past them to open the side door, glancing around the car park. "No sign of the Judoon yet."

"They're probably a good way away," Luke mumbled. "They'd just have kept seeing. Looking. Looking."

"Luke," Clyde said, alarmed.

"Fine, fine, I'm fine."

"He's fine," Connor agreed, wrapping a hand around Luke's arm. "Don't worry. Dawn, ride with Clyde and Sky? See if you can do anything for her ankle." 

"Sure." Dawn studied Luke carefully. "You ok?"

"Yes."

"Make him keep talking to you," she ordered Connor. "We'll stay behind you."

"Yeah." Connor nodded, tugging lightly at Luke's arm to get him to start moving.

It took them longer than Connor liked to get through the fence; Clyde had to put Sky down and let her hop through, and Luke almost went head–first into the pavement when he tried to crouch down. There was still no sign of any of the Judoon, though, and Connor hurried them to the cars, digging a first aid kit out of his boot and tossing it to Dawn.

"What about him?" she asked, gesturing to Luke who was leaning against the car.

"I don't have the right painkillers for him. He'll have to hang on."

"I've got painkillers," Clyde offered.

"Paracetomol?" Connor asked.

"Yeah, think so. Hang on, Sparky..." He swung her into the back seat, turning away to rummage through the glove box. He tossed a small packet and a bottle of water to Connor.

"Thanks." Connor nudged Luke's shoulder. "Put your hand out." Lowering his voice, he added, "Sky's watching you."

Luke grimaced but held his hand out, steady. Connor dropped two pills into it and gave him the water. "Good. Here..." He reached around Luke to open the door.

"Have to say goodbye to Sky," Luke murmured.

"Just wave at her. She's fine." Luke waved awkwardly over his shoulder, slumping into the seat and leaning forward to bury his face in his knees.

"Don't throw up," Connor warned him, turning away. "Clyde, ok?"

"Yeah, we're behind you." Clyde waved him off, climbing into his car. Dawn was already wrapping Sky's ankle neatly. Connor nodded, hopping back into his own car and pulling away.

 

Luke didn't throw up, but he did stumble getting out of the car, crashing to his knees. Connor winced, rounding the car and helping him up again. "All right?"

"I hate being sick," Luke muttered. "It doesn't happen."

"You don't get sick?" Connor watched Clyde pull in behind them.

"It's not in my genetic code. I don't get sick. Once with an alien parasite. That's all." He leaned forward, bracing his hands against his knees.

"Don't do that, it'll just make you feel worse."

"I'm going to be sick."

"No, you're not, Sky's here."

Luke grimaced, straightening up. "Where are we?"

"Oxford. Dawn's place."

"Is it safe here?"

"As much as anywhere. We won't be staying long, but you need to call your mom, and we need to check a couple of things."

Dawn helped Sky out of the car and she limped over to Luke, throwing her arms around him. "Luke!"

"High Sk – Sky High," he stuttered. Connor, watching him carefully, snatched her out of the way as Luke doubled over and threw up noisily.

"Urgh." Clyde propped him up carefully, catching the water bottle Dawn tossed to him. "Feel better?"

"I hate being sick." Luke wiped his mouth, taking the bottle from Clyde to rinse his mouth.

"Yeah, join the club. At least it doesn't happen to you very often."

"Yeah." He spat, taking another drink. "Sorry, Sky."

"Are you all right?" she asked, eyes wide.

"I should be asking you, shouldn't I? How's your ankle?"

"Dawn wrapped it. It's all right." She tucked her hand into his; he squeezed gently and she smiled shakily at him.

"Come on." Connor stepped away from Dawn, taking Luke's arm to lead him in. "Sky, have you got my phone? Call your mom. Tell her what's happened and that we're going somewhere safe, and you'll call her in a little while."

"Where are we going?" Sky asked, digging the phone out of Luke's pocket.

Connor grinned at her, depositing Luke in a seat. "Somewhere safe."

"I'll call her, Sky, if you don't want to." Clyde held out a hand and Sky gave him the phone, curling against Luke.

"Sarah Jane?"

_"Rani. What's going on, Clyde?"_

"Is Sarah Jane there?"

_"Yeah, hang on. Is everyone all right?"_

"In one piece."

 _"Thanks, Clyde, that's very reassuring."_ Her voice changed slightly as she flicked the phone onto speaker. _"She's here. What's up?"_

"Sitting down?"

_"Clyde!"_

"Yeah, sorry." He glanced down at Sky. "Miss Myer's back."

 _"What?"_ Sarah Jane demanded.

 _"The Metalkind took her!"_ Rani protested.

"Yeah, I know, but she's back."

 _"Where's Sky?"_ Sarah Jane asked urgently.

"She's fine, here with me. Twisted ankle, that's all."

_"And Luke?"_

"Mild concussion. He's fine."

_"How did he..."_

"Ran into a wall, Connor says. Look, Miss Myers had control of one of the Judoon. We called the others back and booked it. You guys should get out of there, Miss Myers knows where the house is."

 _"Where are you?"_ Rani asked.

"Um..."

"Dawn's house," Luke offered.

"That doesn't help, Luke, thanks. We're at the college," he said. "But we're going somewhere else, and we'll call you from there."

 _"Where are you going?"_ Sarah Jane demanded. 

"Some safe house Connor knows. We've got to keep Sky away from Miss Myers."

 _"Who's Connor?"_ Rani asked.

"Dawn's friend. Sarah Jane, I have to go. I'll call you as soon as we get – wherever."

"He'll love it," Connor said, just loudly enough to be picked up. "Luke, how're you feeling?"

Luke circled one finger by his head. "I'm a little..."

"Yeah. That'll wear off. Come on." He pulled Luke to his feet, steadying him carefully. "All right?"

"Fine. Fine. Fine." He shook his head sharply to cut himself off. "Where are we going?"

"We're hiding out," Clyde said, draping Luke's arm around his neck.

"Where?"

"Don't know. That's sort of the point of the 'hiding out' bit. You all right, Sky?"

"Yes thank you."

"Attagirl." he looked at Connor. "Let's go, then."

"We're not going far. Can you walk, Luke? Sky?"

"Really not sure," Luke murmured.

"I can," Sky offered. "But not very fast."

"Fast doesn't matter. Luke?"

"Everything's mowing. Moving."

Connor looked at Dawn, who shook her head. "It's a minor concussion. I've nursed Xander through plenty of them. It's still only just over an hour since he got hurt, remember. He'll be fine. Once we get to the safe house he can sleep. Luke?"

"Yes."

"It's not very far. Connor and Clyde will help you, and I've got Sky, all right?"

"Yes."

"Good. Let's go."

'Not very far' translated into a house some way outside the town. Connor let Clyde take over supporting Luke as they approached the front gate, grinning at him. "You're going to like this."

"You keep saying that. What exactly am I...going to..." He swallowed hard. "Dawn?"

"Yep."

"That's a mansion."

"Oh, it's not really. It's just a house."

"It's a flipping mansion!"

"Language," Sky chided him.

"Where _are_ we?" Clyde demanded.

Connor tapped a code into a keypad, watching the gates clang closed. "Luke Smith, Sky Smith, Clyde Langer – welcome to the International Slayer's Council English Training House."

Clyde considered that for a moment. "Only about half those words make sense. You realise that, don't you?"

 

Sarah Jane had been pacing for almost an hour when Sky finally called. The conversation was brief; Sky just gave her an address and assured her that everyone was fine. The trip was mostly in silence; Rani only spoke to direct her.

"Is this right?" Sarah Jane asked, pulling up to a gate.

"Matches the address Sky gave you. Who could they know who lives here?"

The gates creaked open and Clyde jogged out, leaning in Sarah Jane's window. "Hey. Come on in. Everyone's here."

"Everyone who?" Rani pulled her seat forward so he could climb in behind her.

"Well, you know Luke's friend Dawn? Been helping him out with his ancient languages? Turns out she's part of an organisation that fight demons the way we fight aliens. And this is their headquarters." He gestured to one side of the drive and Sarah Jane pulled in.

"Demons?" Rani repeated.

"Yeah. I've not seen any actual proof of demons, yet, but they're definitely fighting something."

"Where are the others, Clyde?" Sarah Jane asked.

Clyde scrambled out of the car again. "Luke's sleeping off his concussion, and Sky's sitting with him. Connor's with them. They're safe."

"Who's Connor?"

"Dawn's friend. His parents were vampires." Clyde nodded at her look. "More or less what I thought, but he's probably listening to us right now, so be careful."

"Listening to us?" Rani repeated.

"Yeah. He hears over distance, and he's very strong and very fast. He's definitely some kind of something."

"Some kind of alien, probably," Sarah Jane said, flipping up her watch. "There's never been evidence of demons."

"Proves how good we are at our jobs, doesn't it?" a dark haired girl said from the porch. Clyde murmured "Dawn." "Come around the side, here," she continued, "it's quicker than coming through the house."

"They're in an apartment down in the basement," Clyde explained. "Privacy. The house is getting pretty packed."

"So they got stuck down in the basement?" Rani said.

"It's nice, Rani. Although it does smell of chlorine, but that could be because they're beside the _swimming pool._ "

"Really? A pool?"

Clyde caught her arm, tugging her around to face him. "And a _cinema._ "

"Really?"

"Clyde!" Sarah Jane snapped. Clyde grinned, skipping after her.

Dawn took them around the side of the house and down a short flight of stairs, tapping on the door before letting them in. A tall, dark–haired boy glanced up from the chair he was slouched in, but he didn't move as Clyde led Sarah Jane across the room and into a bedroom.

Luke was curled on his side, fast asleep. Sky was sitting on the bed beside him, leafing through a book; she looked up as they came in, scrambling off the bed and hobbling over to them. "Sarah Jane!"

"Sky! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

"You're limping."

She glanced down. "I tripped over something and hurt my ankle. But it's fine. They've bandaged it up and everything. I'm fine."

Sarah Jane nodded, letting her go and crossing to sit next to Luke, brushing his hair back. "And Luke?"

"We were running, and it was dark, and he fell and smashed his head into a wall. They said he has a concussion, so they gave him painkillers and let him sleep."

"He heals fast, Sarah Jane," Clyde reminded her. "He'll be ok."

Sarah Jane brushed his hair back again, studying the bruise rising on his forehead. "Yes, of course."

"You're welcome to stay here with him," Dawn said quietly. "But we'd really like someone to come and talk to us. The girls can fight, but they need to know _what_ they're fighting."

"Girls?" Sarah Jane repeated.

Dawn smiled. "Long story. Which I'm very happy to tell you, but we do need someone to be watching out for your Miss Myers just in case, so can we please have someone to tell us about her?"

"I'll go," Rani offered. "I know as much about her as anyone."

"I'll go with you," Clyde agreed. "You stay here with your mum, Sky. We won't be long, Sarah Jane."

Dawn backed out of the door, glancing over her shoulder. "Connor? Take them up to ground zero?"

"Yeah." Connor unfolded from the chair, coming to the door. "Nice to meet you, Miss Smith."

"Yes," she agreed distractedly. Connor grinned, catching Clyde's eye and heading for the outside door.

Rani squeezed Sarah Jane's shoulder and headed after him. Clyde followed her, and Dawn stepped back into the doorway. "Can I get you anything, Miss Smith?"

Sarah Jane glanced up at her. "It's Sarah Jane. And no, thank you."

Dawn nodded. "Do you want to ask me anything?"

She shook her head. "Please don't take this the wrong way. Right now I don't want to do anything but sit with Luke."

"Sure. I'll be here in the living room when you're ready." She stepped out of the door, closing it quietly.

Sarah Jane glanced over at Sky. "I'm sorry, I should have asked if you want anything."

"No, I'm all right. Connor made sure I was."

"You like Connor?"

Sky nodded firmly. "He saved me from Miss Myers. He's definitely good."

"Right. Thank you." She held out an arm, tucking Sky against her side and settling down to wait for Luke to wake up.

 

Upstairs, Clyde and Rani were being introduced to most of the Council – Giles, Luke's advisor, a dark haired man called Xander and a red head girl, Willow. There was another woman with Willow, but no one introduced her, and no one had a chance to introduce the red haired guy before he bounded up to them.

"Have you really met aliens? What was it like? Where they scary? Have you been in space?"

"Andrew!" Giles said loudly. "Do give them a chance to breathe, if you would. Forgive him," he added to the two. "He gets over excited."

"Yeah, bad Andrew. No biscuit," Xander added. "Do you want to sit down? We're trying to keep this informal, which is why we're here instead of the office. It's a bit more like a war room in there."

"Thanks." Clyde waited for Rani to settle on a couch before sitting beside her. "So Demons, huh?"

"No. Miss Myers first," Dawn said quickly. "The girls need to know about her. What is she?"

Clyde took a deep breath. "Miss Myers is from one of two planets. On one planet, people evolved like us. Fleshkind. On the other, Metalkind. Living metal beings. They've been at war for ages; the Fleshkind mine the living metal, and the Metalkind kill the Fleshkind any time they can. Miss Myers is some kind of scientist, and she came up with a really _stupid_ solution. She created a human baby, genetically programmed to do two things. First, when in the presence of Metalkind, she aged into a twelve year old girl. Second, when in the presence of _enough_ Metalkind, she'd explode. She was designed to absorb electrical energy."

"Someone brought her to Sarah Jane for protection," Rani continued. "Her genetic programming was wiped out. She's still sensitive to electricity, but she can't manipulate it anymore."

"And Miss Myers?" Giles asked.

"We never saw her actually fight anyone," Clyde said. "But she has some kind of hypnosis, mind control thing. She knocked out a bunch of workers, just boom, instant coma, and had another one running around doing her dirty work. And she got a Judoon back at the hospital."

"Judoon?" Giles repeated.

"Alien policemen. They look kind of like eight foot tall rhinos."

"You're enjoying this," Rani said in disgust.

"Duh."

"Judoon," Giles said again.

"I can tell the girls about them, I've fought one," Connor offered. "Didn't go near Miss Myers, though."

"Good. We don't want you under evil mind control," Xander said firmly. "Take Kennedy, unless Willow pouts, and go talk to the girls."

Connor considered Willow for a moment before stepping around the group to join the dark haired girl. "Clyde, someone'll take you back down when you're done, ok?"

"Fine," Clyde agreed, waving him off. Sitting forward, he said eagerly, "Demons?"

"Yes." Xander looked to Giles. "Do you wanna do this?"

"If you're going to do the speech, don't," Willow added.

Giles grimaced, removing his glasses and beginning to scrub them vigorously. "Well, then, perhaps you should do it, Xander."

"Great." Xander turned towards them, hands clasped in front of him, and intoned very solemnly, "Demons are real." After a moment, he added, "That's it."

"Oh, now really!" Giles protested.

"I'm joking," Xander assured him. "Mostly. This isn't like breaking the news to Slayers, Giles, they're newbies."

"Hey! We've been protecting this world for five years!" Clyde protested.

"Not from what we've been fighting."

"Doesn't mean it was any easier."

"No," Xander agreed, grinning suddenly. "It doesn't. Look, I'm going to give you the basics, ok? A long long time ago, sometime after the dinosaurs probably, demons used this world as a playground. Did whatever they wanted. But they didn't bother paying attention to those bitty monkeys, and then suddenly, boom. People were here, and we threw the demons out. There's remnants, though. Vampires are a demon soul in a human body, and there are various half breeds and at least one mostly–full blood running around. Demons are like people, though; there are good ones and bad ones. There are plenty of demons passing as people, and even a lot of the ones that couldn't possibly pass are perfectly peaceful."

Clyde nodded thoughtfully. "And the..." He hesitated, turning to look over his shoulder at Connor, still lurking in the doorway with several girls clustered around him. "Rift?"

"Hellmouth."

"Hellmouth," he repeated. "What's the Hellmouth got to do with anything?"

"That's you, Giles," Xander said, leaning back.

"Thank you," Giles muttered. "A Hellmouth is a mystical – rip, for want of a better word. It attracts demons, witches and all manner of mystical beings. As Xander said, some of those beings are peaceful. Some are not."

"It attracts them," Clyde murmured.

"And what about the girls?" Rani asked. "Dawn said the girls would fight."

"Ooh, that's me!" Willow said happily. "See, centuries ago, a bunch of Shaman realised that the demons kind of had the advantage. So they got a teenage girl and put the essence of a demon in her..."

"Ew!"

"Not that way," Xander assured him. "Mystical essence."

"Oh." Clyde coloured, sinking into his seat.

Willow kindly ignored him, continuing, "So she got speed, strength, instincts, weapons knowledge. And they set her against demons. When she died the essence was passed mystically to another girl, and another, and another. The Shaman evolved into a group called Watchers; they identified potential Slayers, trained them, provided support. Sort of. But there was always only one Slayer at a time, until two years ago when we activated every Potential around the world. All of them Slayers, all at once. We've been tracking them down for the last two years."

Clyde glanced over his shoulder at the girls clustered around Connor. "So those girls..."

"Could juggle you," Xander finished. "Easily. Blindfolded. On one foot. With a chainsaw in the other hand – should I go on?"

"Please don't."

"Aw." Rani ruffled his hair, grinning at him.

Xander glanced at Giles. "I think that's the high points. There's a lot of detail, but it can wait until your friend's back on his feet."

"Luke," Clyde said quietly.

Xander nodded. "It can wait until Luke's back on his feet."

"Please? Please? Please?" Andrew said urgently.

Xander sighed. "Andrew would like to talk to you about space."

"Oh, space! I've been there," Clyde said brightly.

"Andrew, breathe," Giles said sharply. Andrew obediently dragged in a breath but seemed to forget to let it out again until Giles thumped him on the back.

"I've been twice," Clyde said helpfully. Giles sighed, thumping Andrew again.

"You've been in orbit," Rani said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh! Was that a contribution from the never–left–Earth crowd?"

"It was," Rani agreed, smiling sweetly. "And it was aimed at the never–leaving–Earth–again crowd. You're grounded, remember?"

"Yeah, but so are you."

"I'm not going to miss anything, am I? I've never been." To Andrew, she added, "But I have been in a spaceship, travelled in time, and been to an alternate timeline."

"What was that like?" Xander asked.

"Rocky," Clyde said, at the same time as Rani said "Depressing."

"Forward or back?" Andrew asked.

Clyde frowned. "What...oh, the time travel? Back."

"He only went to nineteen forty one, though," Rani confided.

"As if you'd anything to do with it! I'd have done yours, but I'd've stood out a bit."

"Where did you go?" Xander asked.

"Tower of London."

"That's not so bad."

"During the reign of Queen Jane."

Xander blinked, looking at Willow. "Fifteen fifty four," she told him.

"Oh. Wow, that's a long time ago."

"You met Lady Jane?" Giles asked curiously.

"Queen Jane," Rani corrected him. "I was there the day before she was arrested for treason."

"Really. What was that like?"

"Upsetting," Rani said sharply.

"I foiled a Nazi invasion of England," Clyde said loudly. "Weren't for me, we'd all be speaking German."

"There was no German invasion in nineteen forty one," Giles said, distracted.

"Yeah, that's cos I foiled it!"

Rani squeezed his hand gently, and he grinned at her, still loudly describing his part in the foiled invasion plot.


	7. Chapter Six

Sky was asleep. She'd drifted off after a little while, curled against Sarah Jane. Whatever she'd said, Sarah Jane could see that her ankle was bothering her.

Dawn tapped on the door, pushing it open. "You should wake Luke," she said quietly. "Make sure he knows where he is." Seeing Sky in Sarah Jane's arms, she added, "Or I can."

"Thank you," Sarah Jane agreed. "I don't want to wake her."

"She was brilliant," Dawn told her seriously. "Really brave."

"Miss Myers scares her. And I don't blame her. The woman is insane."

"That's what Clyde said." Dawn leaned over Luke from the other side of the bed. "Luke, wake up. Luke?"

"Am," he mumbled, burrowing deeper into the pillow.

"No, you're not. Roll over. Come on. I'm just going to keep talking."

Luke grimaced, rolling over and throwing his arm over his eyes. "Over."

"Good. What's your name?"

"Arch – Luke Smith." Sarah Jane blinked; she'd never heard him identify as the Archetype before.

"And your sister?"

"Sky Smith."

"What about your friend? The one who was with us."

"Clyde...Langer."

"Good. Where are we?"

"Bed," he mumbled.

"Where?"

Luke opened his eyes, looking around blearily. He looked past Sarah Jane before refocusing, surprised. " _Mum._ "

"Hi," she said softly. "Guess you know who I am, then."

"This isn't home."

"No."

"It's your place, isn't it?" he said abruptly, turning to Dawn. "We walked here."

"Good." She smiled at him. "That's good, Luke. How do you feel, headache, sick stomach?"

"No. Not a headache...the lump hurts."

"If you promise to stay awake for a while, I'll get you some ice for it."

"Thank you."

She grinned, swinging off the bed and disappearing. Luke curled onto his side, watching Sarah Jane. "How's Sky?"

"Sleeping," she murmured, looking down at her. "I think her ankle bothers her."

"Yes."

"How are you?" she asked.

Luke closed his eyes for a moment. "My head's a bit...Dawn says it'll pass. It's weird. I hate being sick."

"Yes, all twice in your life," she teased gently.

"Last time I just got really tired. I wasn't _sick_ , not by the end."

Dawn reappeared, holding a towel–covered package in her hand. "Can you sit up, Luke?"

He considered for a moment before gingerly sitting upright. Sarah Jane watched, eyes narrowed, but he managed well enough.

"Good." Dawn pressed the towel to the lump on his forehead, lifting his own hand to hold it in place. "While you're holding that, Luke, why don't you list off pi for me?"

Luke had to think about it, but he managed twenty numbers before she told him to stop. "Better and better."

"Is it?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Yes. He got three numbers in and had to stop to throw up last time I asked."

"Did I?" Luke asked in surprise. "I don't remember that."

"Very common with concussion. Don't worry about it. What was the last project we did for class?"

"Um – something Sumerian, because Connor helped us."

"Good enough," she said with a smile. "Keep that there." Turning to Sarah Jane, she added, "He really is healing up. Pretty quickly, actually."

"Thank you," Sarah Jane said, smiling.

" 'm fine, Mum," Luke agreed. Sliding back down to lie, he shifted far enough across the bed to grip her hand lightly. "Promise."

"I know." She smiled, squeezing his fingers gently.

"You're supposed to be sitting up," Dawn chided him softly. Luke grinned, pressing the towel back against his forehead, and she sighed. "I give up. How did you deal with him growing up, Miss Smith?"

"I adopted Luke four years ago. And it's Sarah Jane."

"Sarah Jane," Dawn repeated. "What about your other parents, Luke? How did they deal with you?"

His grip on Sarah Jane's fingers tightened. "I don't have other parents. Just Sarah Jane."

"Someone must have given birth to you."

"I wasn't born. I was made. Mrs Wormwood made me. She's not my mother. Sarah Jane is my mother. Mrs Wormwood is dead." He tugged at Sarah Jane's hand. "Korst gave her to the Bane. She's gone, Mum, really gone."

"Luke, shush," Sarah Jane said softly. "It's all right."

"She's not my mother."

"No. No, she's not. We know that, don't we? It's all right. Dawn, I need you to come around here and hold Sky, please."

Dawn hurried around the bed, carefully taking Sky's weight so that Sarah Jane could sit on the bed beside Luke, holding him as shudders ran through his body. "I'm sorry..."

"Concussion," Sarah Jane said quietly. "Messes up emotions and responses, too. If we're lucky he won't remember this either. Shush, Luke, sssssh. It's all right."

"She's dead," he murmured.

"I know. It's all right. We'll find out what happened. Shhh, shh. It's all right."

She coaxed him back into sleep, relaxing finally. "Better."

"I'm sorry," Dawn murmured.

"It's not your fault. Mrs Wormwood's his sore spot. And with the concussion – any other time he would have just turned the conversation."

"He's good at that," Dawn agreed.

"Yes." Sarah Jane carefully pried the towel from Luke's fingers, laying it aside and brushing his hair back to study the bruise. "Really, Dawn, don't worry about it."

Dawn nodded, glancing down as Sky stirred. "Hey."

"Hi," Sky said sleepily, looking around. "Sarah Jane?"

"Here." She smiled. "Luke was having a nightmare."

"Is he all right?"

"Fine," Sarah Jane assured her. "Just fine. He's sleeping again."

Sky glanced around. "I'm hungry," she decided. "And you must be, Sarah Jane, and Luke will be when he wakes up. Dawn, is there anything here?"

"Not sure what's in the kitchen here, but Andrew's in the house so the main kitchen will be _very_ well stocked. What would you like?"

"Can I come and look? Is that all right, Sarah Jane?"

"Yes, if you like."

Dawn grinned, standing and holding out a hand. "C'mon, then. We'll see if we can sneak some sugar into you before your mom realises, ok?" Sky grinned, taking her hand and limping out.

They came back a little later with soup. Under Sky's watchful eye Sarah Jane ate as much of hers as she could stomach; Luke slept through the whole meal and their quiet conversation.

When they were finished, Dawn took the plates away and then came back to the door. "I'll go see what's keeping your friends."

"Wait," Sarah Jane said quickly. "You asked if I had questions."

"Yeah." Dawn took a step inside, watching them. "Do you?"

"Everything."

Dawn grinned. "Everything."

"Why is that funny?" Sky asked.

"Because when I asked Luke what he wanted to learn in Oxford, he said everything – right. Potted history of the Slayer 'verse as told by Dawn, sister of the Prime Slayer."

 

Connor and the girls had vanished somewhere. Clyde was entertaining Andrew with very nearly true stories of their adventures with various aliens; Rani was leaning against one of the windows, absently listening and pretending to be admiring the view. The house backed onto fields, and there was a running track just visible to one side.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?"

She jumped, turning to face Xander, who was already backing up. "Sorry, you were busy contemplating. I'll go. Don't mind me."

"No," she said quickly. "I wasn't thinking about anything."

"One of my favourite things to do, think about not anything." He joined her, peering out the window.

"This place is awesome," she told him.

"Thank you." He grinned at her expression. "You're looking at the Council's head of construction. Or at least, that's what Andrew calls me. I build their buildings."

"You built this?"

"Not all of it personally. But I headed the team. We've built this same building in a few places around the world. It's a design that works for us."

"It's beautiful," she said sincerely.

"Thank you." He glanced sideways at her. "All a bit overwhelming?"

Rani grimaced. "I believe in aliens. Demons shouldn't be that big of a leap. I don't know why I can't get my head around it."

"I have a theory," Xander offered. "If you like."

"Yes please."

"Well, aliens and all their stuff – they might come here, but they're not _from_ here, right?"

"That's kind of the definition, yes."

Xander grinned. "So there's a disconnect. They're not part of the world. Demons, though...this is their world as much as it is ours. It's different."

Rani considered for a moment. "Maybe that's it. Invading aliens, we know who's right and wrong. Demons who grew up here – it's different."

"Most of the ones who grew up here are peaceful," Xander said quietly. "You don't need to worry about them. It's the invading ones are the problem, same as you. You get peaceful aliens, right?"

"Yeah. Sometimes."

Xander nodded. "Rani, how dangerous is Miss Myers?"

"Depends on whether she got the Judoon under her control or not. On her own I don't think she's too much to worry about."

"Right. Thank you."

"Welcome." She considered the view for a moment. "Running track? Really?"

"The girls love it. Or hate it, depending on whether they're in trouble or not."

"Punishment laps?"

"It's hard to punish someone who can juggle you blindfolded," Xander said reflectively. "And I'm not exaggerating. I got stuck in a pit with some baby Slayers once, and they could climb the wall to get out but I couldn't. So they just passed me one to another."

Rani smiled. "Kind of sounds like fun."

"You'd think, but no."

 

"Real magic?" Clyde asked.

"Real magic," Willow agreed. "I try not to use it unless I have to, though."

"Oh." Clyde frowned, disappointed.

Willow glanced around to make sure Giles wasn't watching before gesturing at a pencil on the table. It floated up between them, hovering neatly. "I killed a vampire like that once," she said reflectively.

"That's just telekinesis. Luke did that once."

"Really?"

"Oh, potential of millions, him. Can't use any of it, but he's got it."

"Maybe I could help," Willow offered. "There's mediation and stuff. I found some of them really useful."

"He might like that," Clyde agreed.

"I'll talk to him when he's feeling better." Glancing at the pencil, she added, "Abeo." The pencil vanished in a puff of smoke and when it cleared, a small and very bewildered frog was sitting on the table.

"I saw that!" Giles called.

"Demonstration for the newbies!" Willow called back cheerfully.

"Not newbies," Clyde muttered, reaching gingerly for the frog. It ribited at him and he jumped, taking a hasty step away. "Kill any vampires with that?"

"No, but it's really useful when I need frog's legs for potions."

"Potions? Really?" Clyde grinned. "Cool. We usually get techno machines that no one but Luke understands."

"Luke's smart?"

"Genetically engineered that way. Where is everyone?"

"Connor went out to get the girls on patrol. Andrew – I don't know, you were talking to him last."

"Kitchen? I think? I offered to help him, but he said he was fine."

"He likes fussing around in there."

Connor appeared from – somewhere, Clyde hadn't figured the house out yet. "Dawn says Luke's awake, if you want to go back down."

"Oh, cheers," Clyde said brightly, glancing across the room. "Rani!"

"Coming!"

"Come this way." Connor gestured towards one of the corridors. "There's a storm coming up outside."

Rani glanced at the nearest window. "Really?"

"A real storm," Connor assured them, turning to lead them through the house. "Sky's fine."

"Good."

Connor took them past the swimming pool, where two girls were knifing up and down – Rani had to drag Clyde past them – and into the little apartment they seemed to have been given. Dawn was leaning against the doorframe to Luke's room; she glanced up as they came in, moving aside.

Luke was patiently answering all of Sarah Jane's questions; he glanced up, grinning at them, but kept reciting numbers. "...one oh five dash five."

"All right," Sarah Jane said, sitting back.

"He's better," Sky told them. "He doesn't remember hitting his head, but everything else is back and he's not sore and he doesn't want to throw up."

"Excellent." Rani dropped onto the bed to hug him, grinning. "All better?"

"Much better, yeah. What's been going on?"

"We've just been chatting a bit with our new friends. Getting some inside goss." Clyde bumped fists with him. "All right, mate?"

"Fine. Absolutely fine."

Sky scrambled out of her seat, limping out into the main room and returning a moment later with a bowl. "Here. We ate while you were sleeping."

"Thanks, Sky." He grinned at her. "How's your ankle?"

"Better than it was. They strapped it up for me."

Dawn shrugged when Luke glanced at her. "We're all good at first aid. It comes with the territory."

"Thanks," he said sincerely.

"When you're finished, Luke, we should go up and talk to Mr Giles," Sarah Jane said. "Find out exactly what's going on."

"I can ask him down here if you'd like," Dawn offered.

"No, no. We won't put him out."

"He won't mind."

"It's fine," Luke said quickly. "I'm done. See?" He held up the empty bowl as evidence. "Let's go."

Clyde was watching carefully when Luke stood, but he didn't wobble or look unsteady. "I'm fine," he said when he realised Clyde was watching him. "Perfectly fine. Just don't put me on a skateboard."

"I wouldn't do that anyway, mate," Clyde agreed. "Not unless you really wanted some pretty girl to nurse you." He blinked thoughtfully. "Actually, around here..."

"If you hurt yourself, Andrew will beat off all the others with a shovel to get to you," Dawn warned him. "He still thinks you can get him into space."

"I know one person who even has a ship, and he's not exactly on my speed dial."

"Tell him that." Dawn grinned at the others. "Ready?"

 

Dawn introduced Luke, Sky and Sarah Jane to the others upstairs. Connor had followed them back up but vanished again.

"Checking the perimeter or something," Xander said when Sky asked. "He'll be back."

"Does he work for you?"

"Ah...sort of. Connor's kind of complicated. Lot of back story." Giles cleared his throat and Xander went on smoothly, "Which we're about to give you. Unless you'd like to go first."

"No, please. Go ahead." Sarah Jane settled herself on the couch, ready to listen.

"Just so you know," Luke said, perching on the arm of the couch beside her, "Mum's a journalist."

"This is all off the record, of course," Sarah Jane said brightly.

"Of course," Giles agreed. "Well. Contrary to..."

"No," Xander said firmly. "Don't do the speech, Giles."

Giles huffed. "You do it, then. And not the way you did it for Clyde."

Xander laughed. "All right then. This is the real story."

It took a while. Xander started with the Slayer's origins, calling one of the girls in to pick him up and bend the fire poker as evidence. He explained the Hellmouth and the destruction of the one in Sunnydale. Dawn gave her own history and Connor returned to give a brief overview of his. Giles told them some of the major battles they'd faced in Sunnydale, and Willow explained what the International Watcher's Council was trying to do for the new Slayers.

When they'd finished, Sarah Jane began explaining her side. She gave them a brief history of her travels with the Doctor and what she'd done since he left. Luke told them about his 'birth', Sky told them about hers, and Clyde and Rani told them about some of the aliens they'd fought. Sarah Jane briefly explained Torchwood and UNIT.

"The government knows about this?" Willow said in surprise.

"The government knows about _us_ , Willow," Xander reminded her.

"They do?" Clyde asked.

"Oh, yeah. Whole government secret mission, black ops thing. They know exactly who we are."

"That doesn't bother you?" Rani asked.

"Nah. They're pretty happy to let us do our thing. Means they don't have to."

"Nice for them," Clyde agreed. "Unfortunately, UNIT can't really handle what we do."

"They'd good at cleaning up messes, though," Rani said, grinning. "Sarah Jane still has clearance, so she gets to order them around."

"Not as much fun as it sounds," Sarah Jane said.

"It does get you out of trouble, though, Mum," Luke pointed out.

"Sometimes, yes. And sometimes it gets me _into_ trouble."

"Sky," Giles said. "Do you remember much about Miss Myers?"

"Just from the power plant. I don't remember the Fleshkind planet."

"I see." Frowning, he continued, "How did she end up in your care, Miss Smith?"

"Sarah Jane, Mr Giles."

"...yes."

"Call him Giles," Xander translated cheerfully. "Everyone does."

"How did she come into your care, Sarah Jane?" Giles repeated stiffly.

"She was brought to me. By someone who did not wish to see the Metalkind wiped out, nor to see her die for that purpose."

"Who?"

Sarah Jane shrugged. "The Shopkeeper."

"We don't know who he is," Luke explained. "Just that he's helpful. He says that his purpose is to make sure things happen the way they should. Sky needed a mother."

"He said Sarah Jane was the best anywhere," Sky added.

"That's so sweet!" Andrew breathed. "He brought you across galaxies to find her!"

"He knew where she was," Clyde pointed out.

"Hush, you," Rani said firmly.

"And Luke?"

"I found Luke on my own. Well, technically, Maria found him."

"I was born older than Sky was, though," Luke added. "Dawn?"

"Hmm? I was placed with Buffy. She was the only person who had a chance of stopping Glory."

"Hey," Willow protested.

"Because of her friends who were vital to the effort," Dawn added smoothly. "It was a real team effort, that one."

Andrew sulked. "I could have stopped her."

"No, you couldn't," Xander said patiently. "God, Andrew."

"God _dess_ ," he snapped.

"Yes."

"Right, to work," Xander announced. "Who knows anything about how the Judoon operate?"

"Lawfully," Clyde muttered. "We do," he added more loudly. 

"Great. Come look at this, tell me where you think they'll attack." He spread out a map of the grounds; Clyde, Luke and Rani gathered around it, discussing the possibilities quietly.

"Sky, can I borrow you?" Dawn asked. "I wanna check your ankle again while it's quiet." To Sarah Jane, she added, "We'll just be in the kitchen, right through there. Andrew, give me a hand. Have you met Sky yet?"

"Not to talk to." he grinned at her. "Aren't you the sweetest thing? No wonder epic battles are being fought over ow!"

"No battles are being fought," Dawn assured them. "Andrew likes to exaggerate."

"Ow," Andrew muttered. "Are you sure the monks didn't put any F'narg in your mix?" Dawn raised an eyebrow and he explained, "F'narg demons have really sharp elbows."

"Just help her into the kitchen."

"Kitchen, ho." He offered Sky his arm in a surprisingly gentlemanly gesture. "M'lady."

Sky grinned, gripping his arm and letting his lead her into the kitchen. Dawn followed behind them, watching Sky's limp critically.

Sarah Jane smiled at the last member of the group. "It really is a beautiful house, Mr Giles."

"Thank you, although I'm afraid I can't take much credit. The design is Xander's and the girls mostly decorate them themselves."

"Xander designed it? Really?"

"He created the plans and oversaw construction here and in Kansas, training the crews who built our other houses. We've at least two like this and at least five others on every inhabited continent. Xander oversees all our housing needs."

"How old is he?" Sarah Jane murmured.

"Dawn is nineteen. Connor is twenty. Andrew is twenty three. Xander, Willow and Buffy are twenty five. The Slayers range from nineteen to nine."

"Nine?"

"The youngest ones don't usually leave their homes. We generally settle an older Slayer nearby to mentor them. Not the best system, but better than the old one. How old are yours?"

"Sky is twelve. Or six months. Luke is seventeen, or four. Clyde and Rani are seventeen."

"Or seventeen," Giles said with a faint smile.

"Or seventeen," she agreed. "It's nice to be able to do this without tripping over each other."

"Yes. We used to work from the high school library – or, for one terrible year, from my living room. It certainly is pleasant to have space to work in."

"We work from my attic," Sarah Jane said with a smile.

"Oh?"

"I suppose we could use the living room, but it's a bit smaller – and anyway, Mr Smith is in the attic."

"Oh. A–and Mr Smith is – your husband? Brother..."

"Computer." She smiled at the look on his face. "He's a hyper–intelligent alien computer. Possibly the only being who can keep up with Luke when he really gets going."

"Luke's teachers agree that he's gifted, but..."

"He's holding back. He always does. Well – since he realised he should, anyway." She watched for a moment as Luke pointed something out on the map, talking quietly and urgently. "Except that for some reason, he really is terrible at languages. None of us can figure out why."

"That's about the only plan I've ever heard to compare with Oz' humus one," Xander said, straightening up.

"It should work," Clyde said defensively.

"Hey, these are your guys. You say this'll work, I'll believe you. Let me go see what we've got."

Rani came back to Sarah Jane and Mr Giles, grinning. "They're going to make a sign for the gate," she explained. " _No entry without permission._ "

"Brilliant," Sarah Jane said happily.

"I'm sorry?" Mr Giles said carefully.

"The Judoon are policemen. They obey every law. Last time we met them, I had to buy a parking ticket before they'd chase the bad guy," Rani explained.

"Will that work if Miss Myers has control?"

"Who knows. Might buy us some time, though."

Xander reappeared, balancing a large flat board and a tub of paint. "Anyone got nice writing?"

"Clyde," Luke said instantly.

"Luke!"

"Well, you do," he protested. "He's an artist," he added to Xander.

"Cool. I'd like to see, later. Think you can artist us up a sign?"

"No worries." Clyde pried the lid off the paint, eyeing it dubiously. "Although I think something might have crawled in here and died."

"Nah, that's just the paint smell." Xander stirred it vigorously. "There, you see, it..." He doubled over, coughing, and Clyde grinned, bashing him on the back.

"Everyone out," he ordered. "Don't disturb the artist at work. Also, you might asphyxiate."

Rani's phone rang and she paused on her way out of the room to fish it out of her pocket. "Hi Mum..." She frowned, waving to catch Sarah Jane's attention. "No, I'm with Luke. What's wrong...no one's in. Mum, what's happening?"

Paling, she passed the phone to Luke. "Sarah Jane, there's..."

"What?" Sarah Jane demanded, catching her hand.

"Your house is on fire."

"What?"

"Mum's called the fire brigade, she thinks it'll be all right, but your house..."

"We're on the way," Luke told the phone, hanging up.

"That's a trap," Connor told him.

"Yes," Luke agreed. "It doesn't matter. Are you coming?"

Connor glanced at Xander. "Yeah. I'll come with you."

"Sky, you stay here," Sarah Jane said quickly.

"No! I'm coming."

"No, sweetheart. Miss Myers is doing this to get you out in the open where she can reach you. You have to stay here, where it's safe."

She glanced at Xander, who nodded quickly. "Yeah, Sky, stay here. Watch some movies with me. It'll be fun."

"I'll stay," Clyde offered. "Might as well make the sign anyway. Nothing to say this isn't a diversion."

Xander nodded. "Connor, take Rachel with you. Dawnster, you going?"

"Yeah. I'd like to see the famous Bannerman Road."

"Good, then let's go," Sarah Jane said briskly, turning towards the front door.

 

Ten minutes into the drive Gita called again to tell them that the fire was more or less out; the house was soaked and smoke damaged, but structurally sound. Sarah Jane thanked her for her swift action and they kept going.

They pulled up outside the house not quite an hour later. Connor's car pulled in behind them, but he and Dawn seemed to be talking about something and neither got out.

Haresh met them at the gate. "Sarah Jane, I'm so sorry."

"Nonsense. If it weren't for you and Gita, it could have been much worse." Sarah Jane glanced at the piles of furniture all over the grass with a raised eyebrow.

"Gita's had us pulling out the stuff that's badly damaged."

"Us?"

"Carla Langer, and the gentleman in twenty eight – he told me his name, but I don't remember – and a young man called Jacob, and Kelsey Harper, and Lance Matcalf, and several others. Don't worry," he added at her look. "We're only working on the ground floor. We didn't go near the bedrooms. The second floor wasn't burnt, but there is a lot of smoke damage, the firemen said."

"Thank you."

"Where's Sky?" he asked, glancing at the kids.

"I left her with Clyde and some friends in Oxford. I wasn't sure what we were going to find here, and I didn't want her to see anything distressing. It's been a long weekend."

"Well, structurally the house is fine. Perfectly sound. There's smoke and water damage, but nothing else."

Sarah Jane nodded, glancing up as Dawn slipped past her to join Luke and the others. "Thank you, Haresh."

"Sarah Jane, if you and Luke want to stay with us tonight, you're very welcome."

"Thank you. I'll keep it in mind. See how it is."

"Of course."

She nodded to Kelsey and another boy – Jacob? She'd never met him, but she remembered Rani's description – as she went to join Luke, Rani and Dawn, who were huddled over a pile of destroyed books and whispering fiercely. "What's wrong?" she asked, joining them.

"Connor thinks something is off. He's gone to sniff around," Dawn told her. "Sarah Jane, I'm sorry."

"Oh, nothing's seriously damaged. Luke, see if you can get inside without being noticed and check in with Mr Smith. Haresh says the damage is mostly confined to the ground floor. Rani, find your mother and keep her occupied?"

"Course," Rani agreed, following Luke into the house.

"It's a lovely house," Dawn murmured.

"Thank you." Sarah Jane turned to study the house; apart from smoke damage around the windows, the house did look mostly all right. "It doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't?"

"If this was a distraction, or to draw us out, why so little damage?"

"More damage means more attention." Dawn's eyes widened at something over Sarah Jane's shoulder, adding softly, "And there are a lot of people here right now and we can't do anything if, say, Miss Myers were to come striding up your walk."

"Miss Myers is striding up my drive, isn't she."

"Yes."

Sarah Jane nodded, turning. Down at the gate, Haresh was watching them carefully; she waved at him, not really surprised when he kept watching. Rani's father was not stupid.

"Miss Myers," she said politely. "How can I help you?"

"You can give me back my child." Miss Myers strode up to within a few feet of her, keeping her voice down.

"Sky is not your child."

"I created her..."

"And I'm raising her. Why do you want her, anyway? She's no use to you now."

"So we thought, yes. But I've discovered a way to reactivate her. I will have my revenge on the Metalkind, Sarah Jane Smith."

"Watch it," Sarah Jane warned, a slight smile on her lips. "We're surrounded by my allies. What would happen, I wonder, if I told them you're trying to take Sky from me?"

"We may be surrounded by your allies, Sarah Jane. But they are surrounded by mine."

Sarah Jane glanced around ostentatiously. Luke slipped out of the house, pausing to speak briefly to Lance before joining them. Lance, frowning slightly, rounded up Kelsey and Jacob and left, glancing back at them before vanishing. Haresh folded his arms, still watching them.

"I don't see anyone," Sarah Jane said.

"Oh, yes, I know." Miss Myers smiled. "That's the beauty of my new friends."

"The Judoon don't have any kind of cloaking technology," Luke murmured.

"I did say new friends. I thought you were the smart one?"

Sarah Jane smiled stiffly. "Haresh? It's late. Thank you for your help, but you should take Rani home now."

Haresh studied them for a moment longer. "Are you sure, Sarah Jane?"

"Positive. Thank you. Really. Luke, are they inside?"

"Yes."

"Go get them." She squeezed his hand lightly. "Go on." Luke nodded, heading inside again.

"Where's the other boy?" Miss Myers asked, looking around.

"Clyde? He's not here."

"No. The other one."

"Oh, he's here somewhere."

"You won't see him until he's ready," Dawn added lightly. "He likes surprising people. He has so few joys in life."

"Where are the Judoon?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Oh, them? They're around. It's hard to control someone that stupid."

Luke came back out; Rani and Gita were on his heels. Rani didn't stop, only smiled tightly at Sarah Jane as she led her mother down towards the gate. "No, Mum, just let Sarah Jane and Luke be alone right now. We can bring over some dinner in a while, maybe. Let's just let them have a look around." Haresh wrapped an arm around her as they reached the gate, leading them back to their own house.

"Anyone else you'd like to have leave?" Miss Myers asked politely.

Sarah Jane glanced at Luke, who shook his head. "Everyone's gone."

"Oh good. Then perhaps we can get somewhere."

Dawn shifted as Haresh reappeared, ostentatiously studying his garden and poking at the various plants there. "What's he doing?"

"Oh, checking his plants," Sarah Jane said lightly. "Quite an avid gardener, Haresh."

"He's not going to stop me," Miss Myers warned her.

"He's not trying to stop you. He's just there to witness."

Rachel backed into view at the bottom of the drive, looking back towards the car. "Dawn? Get inside."

"What is it?" she called.

"Get inside!"

"That would be my friends," Miss Myers said conversationally.

"What the hell is that?" Haresh said from across the road, straightening from his crouch.

Luke ducked around Dawn, jogging down to the end of the drive. Rachel moved to block him, one hand on his arm. Luke shook her off, stepping into the road.

"Mr Chandra, go inside!" he called.

"What the hell is it?"

"I don't know! Just get inside!"

He waited until Haresh started moving before coming back to join Sarah Jane and Dawn. "Miss Myers has a dragon."

"A dragon," Sarah Jane repeated.

Luke shrugged helplessly. "Or an alien that looks like a dragon, I don't..."

"No, it's from this planet," Miss Myers said politely. "A few dimensions over, but this planet."

"There are no dragons on this planet."

"Not in this dimension," she agreed. "But I've made some very powerful new friends. They procured her for me."

"The dragon's a her?" Dawn said in surprise.

"Get inside!" Rachel ordered again. She was holding a crossbow, aimed down the street.

"Dawn, she can't fight a dragon in the middle of the street!" Sarah Jane protested.

"It's Bannerman Road, mum, no one will even notice." Luke pushed her gently towards the door, catching Dawn's arm and dragging her after them. "Where's Connor?"

"Around. Are you planning on leaving her standing on your drive?"

"Maybe her dragon will take care of her for us. Luke, keep watching." Sarah Jane hurried upstairs; Mr Smith was already active and displaying a satellite feed of the area. The dragon was apparently investigating the garden of number forty two; Sarah Jane took a moment to be glad the house was empty, like half the other houses on Bannerman Road. Rachel, the only person visible, was standing by their gate, watching the dragon warily.

"Mr Smith, tell me you know what that is."

"I'm sorry, Sarah Jane. The only reference I can find is in Earth's mythology."

"Dragons," Sarah Jane said with a sigh.

"Western dragons, to be specific." On the screen, Miss Myers was strolling down the drive. Rachel, trying to watch in two directions at once, backed into the road to avoid her. Miss Myers smiled at her as she passed, walking past the dragon and out of sight.

"Mr Smith, any sign of Connor?"

"Connor?"

"He came in the car with Dawn, who is the girl downstairs with Luke, and Rachel, who is the girl out on the road with the crossbow."

"Ah. No. Connor is not in range of this satellite."

"I wonder where he is," she muttered. "How do we get rid of a Western dragon?"

"Legend tells us that each western dragon had a weak spot somewhere on its body. However the spot varied from one dragon to the next. There is no way to tell exactly where it is."

"Thank you."

"You are welcome."

She threw an annoyed look at him, heading back downstairs. Luke and Dawn were crowded against the window, watching Rachel; she was barely moving, only the tip of her crossbow shifting back and forth as she watched the dragon.

"Mum." Luke took a step back to let her see. "What did Mr Smith say?"

Sarah Jane shrugged. "It's a dragon. Dawn, where's Connor?"

"He's around. He's always around."

"He's not helping Rachel?"

"She doesn't need help."

"It's a dragon," Luke pointed out.

"You've never seen a Slayer in action."

"Why has no one noticed this?" Sarah Jane muttered. Her neighbours were relatively oblivious – they learned to be quickly – but this was a little much.

"Someone else's problem?" Dawn suggested. Sarah Jane raised an eyebrow and she added, "Some mystical beings have a Someone Else's Problem field – people sort of ignore them unless they really, really have to pay attention."

"If that dragon starts breathing fire they'll have to pay attention!"

"We don't know it breathes fire," Luke pointed out.

"If Miss Myers had anything to do with it, we can assume it breathes fire. Where did she get a dragon?"

"Wolfram and Hart," Connor said from behind her. Sarah Jane spun, startled to find him already in the house.

"Connor, breaking and entering isn't polite," Dawn said mildly. "What about Wolfram and Hart?"

"That's the dragon Angel fought in LA a few years ago. Or very similar, anyway. Wolfram and Hart sent it that time."

"Who are Wolfram and Hart?" Luke asked, and then shook his head. "No, I remember – they're a law firm, right? They offered me a scholarship."

"Really?" Sarah Jane said in surprise.

"Really?" Dawn echoed.

"To study law. I didn't want it. They said I could take it whenever, they'd hold it for me." He shrugged, rubbing absently at one arm. "They felt kind of creepy."

"You never told me that, Luke," Sarah Jane said slowly.

"I don't want to be a lawyer. I wasn't going to take them up on it. There wasn't any point in telling you."

"Wolfram and Hart tried to recruit you?" Dawn repeated, trading looks with Connor.

"They'd put me through school and pay me stupid amounts of money if I'd work for them for five years when I graduated. I don't want to be a lawyer. I told them. I kept telling them. Who are they?"

"Evil interdimnesional law firm," Connor said briefly, stepping past Dawn to look out the window. Rachel flicked a glance at him, still watching the dragon. "Angel fought them on and off for years. Don't do...!"

Rachel fired the crossbow. The dragon screamed, a surprisingly high–pitched noise; Connor cursed, ripping the front door open and charging down the drive. He tackled Rachel, knocking them both into Haresh's garden just in time to avoid the gout of flame.

Luke and Dawn had been on his heels, but they'd stopped at the end of the drive and Luke yanked Dawn back into the garden, out of the way of the fire. Connor's car alarm went off, whining for a moment before trailing into silence.

"Ouch," Dawn muttered. "Giles isn't going to like that. Connor goes through cars almost as fast as Spike does."

Luke peered around the gatepost. Connor and Rachel were getting to their feet; he caught a flash of Rani, staring at him from her window, and waved absently. The dragon was pawing at the crossbow bolt, stuck in the soft scales under its chin.

Luke watched, spellbound, for a moment. The dragon was beautiful, even now, even knowing it was trying to kill them.

"How do we know it's trying to hurt us?" he murmured. "It didn't do anything until Rachel shot it."

"You know Miss Myers better than I do," Dawn answered. "Is it likely she'd spring something like this on us if it wasn't going to attack us?"

"No," Luke admitted. "It's beautiful, Dawn."

"Yes." She let him stare at it for a moment longer before adding quietly, "Connor has to kill it."

"Yeah." Luke sighed, leaning against the fence.

"You don't have to watch."

He shook his head, leaning around the gate again as Connor and Rachel ranged out across the road, advancing on the dragon from two sides.

Sarah Jane joined Luke and Dawn, watching as the two circled the dragon warily. Rachel's bolt hadn't killed it, but it did seem injured, flailing at them without taking off. Connor ducked another gout of fire, diving behind a car. The tires exploded and he rolled away from it, patting at the sparks landing on his arm.

Rachel took the opportunity to slash at the dragon with the sword she'd acquired from somewhere. It howled, trying to spin to get at her, and Connor hamstrung it.

Dawn yanked Luke's arm, pulling him out of the gate as a wave of fire shot down the road. Sarah Jane had already ducked; Luke stumbled over Dawn's foot, collapsing to the drive. He started to rise, flinching when the dragon's scream was abruptly cut off.

"Stay there," Dawn murmured, stepping around Sarah Jane to look around the gate. Sarah Jane glanced after her for a moment before holding a hand out to Luke, tugging him to his feet.

"Don't," she murmured when he started to step around her to look.

"They might be hurt..."

"They're fine. Don't look, Luke."

He nodded, waiting patiently until Dawn came back onto the drive. "Sarah Jane, I don't suppose you have a way of getting rid of...? We're a bit far from our backup here."

"Yes. I'll talk to Mr Smith, we should be able to manage something." She squeezed Luke's hand, turning to head into the house.

"Are you all right?" Dawn asked, watching him.

"Me? 'Course. What about Connor and Rachel?"

"Connor's a bit singed, but they're not hurt."

"I'm glad."

"Come inside," she said gently, tugging at his hand.

"Why?"

She shrugged. "It's getting cold out here. Connor and Rachel will watch until your mom does whatever she's doing."

"Getting Mr Smith to link with any passing ship with a teleport to get rid of the body," Luke said, more or less automatically.

"Right. Until she's done that. Come on."

He let her tug him inside and into the kitchen, where he shook gently loose and started making tea. Dawn leaned against the table, watching with a faint grin. "What?" he asked when he saw her.

"You're so English. Trauma? Make tea."

"Trauma?"

She took the kettle out of his hand, switching it on. "You don't usually kill yours, do you?"

"Sometimes. When we have to. But – no. Not usually."

"Ours, we mostly have to kill. I'm sorry."

He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "It was trying to burn them alive. I understand."

"Do you?"

"Head level, anyway."

"I'll take it." She considered him for a moment before turning abruptly away. "There's supposed to be biscuits, right?"

"Sorry?"

"Trauma. Tea and biscuits. I'm better at heartache."

"What's the recipe for heartache?"

"Ice cream and hot chocolate."

Luke considered. "That seems contradictory."

"You'd think, but it works pretty well. Haven't you ever had your heart broken?"

"Not the way you mean, no."

"Luke!" Connor called from somewhere outside. "We've got Judoon!"

"What?" He flipped the kettle off absently, heading for the front door.

Sarah Jane was already there, watching in silent dismay as three Judoon stomped across the garden. "There goes my sweet pea."

"You should have put up a 'Do not walk on the plants' sign," Dawn said. "Which side are they on now?"

"Hard to tell." Luke caught her sleeve, tugging her back behind them. "Captain Tybo!"

The Judoon halted and Tybo took off his helmet. "Fugitive Korst has left Earth," he told them. "We are leaving in pursuit."

"Captain Tybo, one of your men has been brainwashed by Miss Myers."

"Situation is dealt with."

"But she's still here," Sarah Jane pointed out. "Invading Earth. Shouldn't you be stopping her?"

"Judoon are withdrawing."

"Why?"

"This is Human matter."

"Miss Myers isn't human," Luke protested. "She's Fleshkind."

"Judoon will not interfere."

"That's new," Sarah Jane scoffed.

Tybo turned and he and his men started away. Luke bit his lip, watching them; when they reached the gate he called "Captain Tybo?" The Captain halted and Luke went after him, glancing at Sarah Jane, who followed. Dawn stayed exactly where she was, watching warily.

"Captain Tybo," Luke said quietly when he reached them. "You said that Korst gave Mrs Wormwood to the Bane."

"Bane Wormwood is confirmed killed."

"Definitely? Because we've thought she was dead twice."

Tybo pulled a small projector from a pocket on his uniform, cueing up a clip. Luke watched it without reacting; Sarah Jane wrapped an arm around his shoulders, closing her eyes.

"Thank you," Luke said when it was finished.

"If fugitive Korst returns, we will warn," Captain Tybo offered.

"Thank you," Sarah Jane said. Tybo nodded, pulling his helmet back on and marching away.

Sarah Jane tugged Luke into a hug as soon as they were gone. "Luke..."

"I hate her," he mumbled into her shoulder.

"No, you don't."

"I should. I want to."

"No, you don't," she said again, softly. "You don't have it in you to hate."

He took a step away from her. "I should be glad she's gone. She can't hurt anyone else."

"You don't have to be glad. Don't be anything."

"I really hate to interrupt," Connor said apologetically from some distance away, "but this isn't the time for breakdowns."

"I'm not having a breakdown," Luke said irritably. Turning, he glanced at the empty patch of road where the dragon had died, taking in the destruction the brief fight had caused. "Mum, your car."

"Yes, I know." The car was a burnt out wreck. Connor's, closer to the fire, was even worse off; it was almost impossible to recognise it as a car at all.

"Xander'll come get us," Dawn said, coming to join them. "Sarah Jane, what do you want to do? Miss Myers got you here to get your attention, basically. Do you want to stay here or come with us?"

"I need to know about Wolfram and Hart, if you think they're helping Miss Myers." Connor took a few steps away, taking a phone from Rachel and dialling.

Luke leaned against the wall, watching them talk. Dawn was listening to both Connor and Sarah Jane at the same time, answering each of them in turn. It made it hard to track the conversation, and after a while he gave up, tilting his head up towards the sun and wondering vaguely if he was in shock. He'd never been in shock before, but this feeling of disconnect seemed to fit.

That, or his concussion was still bothering him.

"Hey."

He turned at the soft voice. Rani was leaning against the wall beside him, face turned up to mimic his. "Hi. How'd you get away? I thought your dad would lock you in."

She made a face. "Sneaked out. What's wrong?"

"What?"

"What did Captain Tybo tell you?"

"Oh." He shrugged. "Mrs Wormwood's been confirmed dead. Korst handed her over to the Bane and they executed her."

"Oh." Rani studied him for a minute. "I'm...sorry. I think."

Luke smiled faintly. "That's sort of how I feel, too."

"It must be really confusing. Can I...do you want to talk about it, or...?"

"No time. We think Miss Myers has joined forces with a group called Wolfram and Hart. They're interdimensional evil lawyers."

"Of course they are," Rani agreed with a grin. "Nothing's ever easy, is it?"

"No. Not easy."

"It'd be boring," Connor said, coming to join them. He glanced at Luke but didn't ask him if he was ok, which was something of a relief. "Xander's on his way to get us. He had to shake off Andrew; we'd never get him home again if he saw this place. Your mom's coming back with us, Luke, d'you want to come or stay here?"

"I'll come. Thanks." Frowning, he pushed off the wall. "Back in a second," he added, heading for the house.

"Are you coming?" Connor asked Rani.

She grimaced, glancing at her house. "Depends whether I can throw my dad off or not. He knows something's going on."

"All right. Let me know at some point. You've got a while, anyway."

"Thanks."

He glanced towards her window. "You were watching, right?"

"Some of it," she agreed. "You move very fast."

"Yeah." He studied her for a minute. "We didn't kill it for fun, you know. I'd've been happy if it had gone away."

"I know."

Luke reappeared, hands shoved into his pockets. "You should go back to your house," he told Rani. "If your dad figures out you slipped out before we can get away he'll just make you go home anyway. Go back now and slip away again when Xander gets here."

"All right," she agreed reluctantly. "Call me when he gets here. Promise?"

"Promise." He grinned at her as she left, slipping around the side of her house.


	8. Chapter Seven

Sky was watching as Clyde talked quietly with Xander and Willow. Andrew kept trying to distract her, but she was fairly sure something was going on.

"Talking totem poles?"

"One totem pole. And it didn't talk, Clyde stopped it before it got that far."

"And it just made everyone hate him?"

She nodded. "Sarah Jane thought later that maybe it brought up things that bothered them just a tiny bit, and made them bigger and bigger until they couldn't see anything else. Clyde _does_ tease Luke and Mr Chandra _does_ get angry at him for messing around, and his mother knows he's not telling her things. It wouldn't normally ever bother them, but Hetocumtek made it the only thing about Clyde they could see, and they drove him away."

"Wow," Andrew said, impressed. "That's a nasty weapon. It didn't affect you?"

Sky shrugged. "We don't know why."

"Because you haven't known him as long?"

"No, the museum curator got really mad at him as well, and she'd only seen him once for a few minutes. It's probably because I was made. Although," she considered for a moment. "It did affect Luke. So who knows. It's lucky it didn't affect me, though." 

"Yeah." Andrew considered for a moment. "Maybe it's cos you're an innocent?"

"Maybe," Sky said diplomatically.

"Cookie?"

"Thank you."

Andrew might be weird, and really bad at distractions, but at least he liked feeding people.

Clyde came to join them, absently taking a biscuit when Andrew waved the plate at him. "What are we talking about?"

"Hetocumtek," Sky said automatically.

Clyde winced. "Really? Why?"

"It's a good story. Sorry, Clyde."

"It's all right, Sparky."

She frowned, studying him. "What's wrong?"

"What would be wrong?"

"I don't know, but something is. What is it?"

He sighed, shifting to sit next to her. "Your mum met Miss Myers. She's joined up with some big powerful enemy of the Council, and she set a dragon on them – they're fine, Connor and Rachel got it. Xander's going to pick them up and bring them back here."   
"She wants me, doesn't she?" Sky asked.

"Yeah," Clyde admitted. "But don't worry. They've taken care of the dragon. She'll have to find something else if she wants to get you."

"We can't stay here, Clyde."

"Why not?"

She glanced at Willow, leaning over the map and discussing something with one of the Slayers. "This isn't their fight."

"Is now," Andrew told her. "Wolfram and Hart have been trying to take them down for years. They don't like the way we keep saving the world."

"Some people are so unreasonable," Clyde agreed. "Sky, you ok?"

"Yes. Andrew, may I go outside?"

"Not the best idea. Sorry. The bedrooms upstairs have balconies, how's that? Fresh air?"

"Thank you. That's fine."

"Atta girl. Come on, I'll show you." He grinned at Clyde, leading Sky towards the stairs.

Giles, coming from the office, watched them go before crossing to Clyde. "Is she all right?"

"She's a bit freaked out, but yeah. She's all right."

"Good. I'm glad."

"Thanks for letting us hang around. And, y'know, saving our lives and stuff."

Giles smiled. "Our pleasure. I must admit, I'm looking forward to having time to discuss your experiences."

"Yeah? You think that's likely to happen soon?"

He winced. "Going on experience?"

"Clyde!" Xander yelled from the door. "You want to come?"

"They're coming back here, right?"

"Yeah."

"No, thanks." He gestured upwards, the way Sky had gone, and Xander nodded in understanding.

"I won't be long. I'll let Connor drive back; he thinks speed limits are for lesser beings."

"Long as he remembers which side of the road we drive on over here."

Xander grinned, throwing off a salute as he left.

 

 

Luke let Xander in, directing him to the sitting room. Dawn and Sarah Jane were talking quietly; Rachel was lurking by the door, and Connor, entirely in character, was nowhere to be seen. Luke came in behind Xander a moment later, slipping Connor's phone into his pocket.

"Rani," he explained when Xander raised an eyebrow. "I promised I'd call her when you got here. She has to sneak out."

"Ah, sneaking," he said nostalgically. "I remember sneaking. Those were the days."

"How's Sky?" Sarah Jane asked, looking up from Dawn.

"A little freaked out," Xander said honestly. "But all right, I think." 

"Good." She glanced around. "I just need to check something upstairs, and then we can go."

"Sounds good. Where's Connor?" he added to Dawn as Sarah Jane left the room.

"Perimeter sweep, or something. The guy's gone nuts. He won't stop."

"Well, he's worried. I'm going to let him drive back. Hopefully that'll let him work out some of his problems."

"Great. You checked the airbags, right?"

Xander grinned, glancing at Luke. "You need anything?"

"No, I'm fine." He glanced over his shoulder as the front door opened, stepping to one side as Rani came in. "Got away?"

"Yeah. I left a note."

"You don't have to come," Xander told her.

"You're not leaving me out of this." She grinned at Dawn. "Hey. Your life always this exciting?"

"Not until recently."

"Used to be, in Sunnydale," Xander offered.

Sarah Jane came back down, glancing around the room. "Ready? Where's Connor?"

"Probably outside leaning against the car," Dawn said with a sigh.

"He does love the drama," Xander agreed. "Let's go, then."

 

 

Clyde waved from one of the balconies when they arrived back at the house. Luke waved stiffly, turning to Connor. "You always drive like that?"

"I didn't hit anything."

"I could see what you were doing, you know. Enhanced reflexes don't compensate for everything." Glancing at Dawn, he added, "He's really never got a ticket?"

"I think the police are afraid if they chase him, he might do something even more crazy."

"Wimps," Connor said with a snort.

"Could you do that?" Rani asked Luke.

"Probably. If I wanted to. Who wants to drive like that?"

"Hi Sarah Jane!" Sky yelled, leaning over the balcony.

"I'll take you up," Xander offered with a grin. "Connor, try not to kill anyone, ok?"

"I haven't killed anyone in days."

"You killed a dragon three hours ago!"

"Dragons aren't people. They don't count."

"I may regret asking," Rani said, smiling at Sarah Jane as she passed them, "but what counts as people?"

"You're right, you would regret asking that," Dawn told her. "Come on; I'm starved. Let's see what Andrew's been up to while we were gone."

Connor was watching Luke when he looked up. "Something wrong?"

"No. Nothing." He smiled aimlessly, wandering after the others.

 

Andrew, it seemed, had been busy cooking while they were gone. Everyone got something – Rani had to smack Clyde a few times to make him stop watching Rachel and Kennedy – and when they were finished eating another strategy meeting started. Giles had found some information about Wolfram and Hart, and he and Sarah Jane began discussing it intently.

"Connor," Luke said quietly, drawing him to one side. "Do Wolfram and Hart know you? Would they recognise you?"

"Probably. We're pretty famous in Wolfram and Hart, my dad and me. Why?"

Luke held up a business card. "They told me to call anytime. If I can get in, look around, maybe I can figure out what Miss Myers is doing."

"It's dangerous. Really dangerous."

"Yeah. That's why I wanted you to come."

Connor considered him for a minute. "Wait here," he said abruptly, turning and heading for the kitchen.

Luke slid the card back into his pocket, watching Clyde tease Sky. She looked better, barely limping at all anymore and much happier.

"This is a bad idea," Andrew protested as Connor steered him into the room and over to Luke. "I suck at undercover."

"No, you're good at undercover," Connor said patiently. "You fooled my father twice and that's not easy to do."

Andrew blinked, puffing out his chest. "I did, didn't I. And Spike, too."

"See. You're perfect for this secret mission that nobody, not even Giles, is going to know about until afterwards."

"Clyde would go with me," Luke suggested. Andrew looked very unhappy with the plan.

Connor shook his head. "Trust me. Andrew's actually pretty useful in these situations."

"I need a little bit of time," Andrew said quietly. "An hour or so."

Luke nodded, raising his voice. "Clyde, borrow your phone?" Clyde pitched it over without looking away from Sky and Luke dialled quickly. "Mr Smith, I need you to relay a call for me. It needs to look like I'm calling from there."

"I see." Mr Smith was silent for a moment. "What number do you need to dial?"

Luke reeled it off from memory. "You can't tell my mum about this, Mr Smith."

"That implies this is not a course of action she would approve of."

"I just don't want her to worry. Please."

"Connecting," he said neutrally.

Luke went through the motions with a woman who assured her that yes, Mr Johnson remembered him, and yes, of course she could set up a meeting for that afternoon, and would he like someone to come and pick him up?

"No thank you. I can get there. I'll be bringing a friend."

"Of course," she agreed diplomatically. "Whatever makes you feel more comfortable. Mr Johnson will be expecting you at half past two, then."

"Thank you." Luke waited until Mr Smith had hung up. "Mr Smith..."

"You're bringing back up, Luke?"

"I'm standing with Connor and Andrew right now. Mr Smith, please. Don't tell Mum."

"This is not a wise course of action, Luke."

"It's to protect Sky. Look, I still have Connor's phone. You can listen to everything that happens and if it starts going wrong you can let Mum know."

There was silence for a long moment before Mr Smith said reluctantly, "That is acceptable. Luke...be careful."

"I will. Thank you." He hung up, erasing the call history before tossing the phone back to Clyde. "We've got about two hours, Andrew. Is that long enough?"

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll be ready."

"Good." Connor nudged him gently towards the door and he vanished. "Go sit with Sky," he added softly to Luke. "They're looking at us weird."

"What are you two up to, lurking in the corner?" Xander called.

"That is spooky," Luke told Connor. "Just swapping embarrassing stories," he added more loudly.

"Embarrassing, eh?" Xander eyed them. "What exactly are you talking about?"

"There was something about Dracula," Luke offered, dropping to sit beside Sky.

"And exploding aliens," Connor added.

"And singing?"

"Enough. Let's talk about something else."

 

Just over two hours later Andrew walked very stiffly into the room and, entirely unconvincingly, proclaimed, "I have to go out and buy some things. For food. Eating. Who will come with me to help carry the eating? Food."

Luke almost rolled his eyes but caught himself in time. "I'll go," he said instead, standing up. "I'm not really helping here at the moment."

"Of course you're helping," Sarah Jane said automatically.

"Take..."

"Connor is coming," Andrew said over Xander. "Um. Sorry. You first."

"Take someone who can fight with you," Xander said, watching him with a slight frown.

"Connor is coming," Andrew repeated. "Come on, Luke, or all the good deals will be gone!" He turned, stiffly, and marched out again.

"I won't be long," Luke promised Sarah Jane. "Do you want anything?"

"No. Thank you." She smiled at him, turning back to Sky. Luke watched them for a moment before leaving.

He was aware of Clyde watching him all the way out.

 

"Luke, seriously, I am not good at this!" Andrew hissed. "You should have brought someone else!"

"You're fine," Luke said patiently. "Just remember the plan."

"I hate the plan!"

"I don't like it much either, but it'll work. As long as they don't figure out what you're doing."

"They won't. I'm not actually doing anything at the moment." Andrew took a deep breath. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Let's go." Luke grinned at him, pushing away from the car and heading for the Wolfram and Hart building. Andrew fell into step behind him, still nervously wringing his hands.

They stepped across the threshold and Andrew straightened. "There is a lot of power here," he breathed, almost too low for Luke to hear. 

Luke nodded, heading for the desk. "I have a meeting with Mr Johnson," he told the man there.

"Luke Smith," the man said without checking his book. "Come this way, please." He rose to lead them to a lift, where he tapped a code into the panel. "You'll be met," he said, stepping aside so Andrew could get in.

"Thank you," Luke said automatically. The man smiled as the door slid closed.

"Luke..." Andrew whispered.

"No backing out now."

"No. I'm just...It's a lot of power. This is not a good place, Luke."

"No," Luke agreed softly. "It's not a good place."

The doors hissed open and they were met by a woman in a very short skirt, who escorted them to a conference room, fetched them drinks and snacks and then left, promising Mr Johnson would be with them very soon. They barely had time to look around before Mr Johnson himself was with them, shaking hands and bestowing smiles all around.

"Luke Smith," he said when he finally sat.

"Mr Johnson," Luke answered.

"I thought you'd be back once you had some time to think about it."

"Yes," Luke agreed awkwardly. "I'm still not sure I want to be a lawyer, but I thought I could come and look around and see what kind of work you do. Is that possible?"

"Well, here in the office it's mostly talking on the phone and working on computers. Not very exciting."

"No, I suppose not," Luke murmured.

"Of course, we do have some interesting personnel on the premises. Perhaps you'd like to meet some?"

"Yes, that sounds fine. Thank you."

Andrew shifted, moving his chair a little away from Luke's and starting to sketch on the refill pad in front of him. Luke glanced at him, watching him doodle while Johnson spoke on the phone for a moment. "Now, Luke." He smiled, turning to face them. "What can Wolfram and Hart do for you?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What can we offer you to get you working here?"

"I'm not sure. I still want to finish my course."

"Yes, of course. Anthropology, isn't it? Fascinating subject. I've always been interested in history."

"Yes, it is fascinating." Luke went into a long description of the last lecture he'd attended – had it really only been three days ago?

Johnson listened, nodding in the right places, but there was clear relief on his face when someone knocked on the door. "Ah. Come in. Luke Smith, meet our newest partner."

Miss Myers smiled when Luke turned. "Oh, we've known each other for a while now, haven't we, Luke? Since your mother stole my daughter, anyway."

"She didn't steal her!" Luke took a step backwards, bumping into Andrew, who didn't give way. He glanced at Johnson, who was watching, utterly unsurprised.

"Did you really think this could work, Luke? Did you think we wouldn't get suspicious?"

"No. I thought you might. So I had a plan." He glanced at Andrew, who didn't move.

"What, the little warlock?" Miss Myers laughed. "He can't do anything here, Luke."

"We'll see," Luke said confidently.

"No." Andrew stepped away from him, holding his phone in one hand. "We really won't, Luke."

"Andrew, what are..."

Andrew grinned, tossing the phone to Johnson. "They're listening."

"No. They're not," Johnson said. "No signals out of this building unless we allow it."

"Oh, Luke's a genius. He had your field pierced before we even got here."

"Andrew," Luke hissed, shifting from one foot to the other. Andrew shrugged at him, watching Johnson.

Johnson slowly tipped the phone onto the floor, where Miss Myers crushed it underfoot. Luke winced. "That's not my phone."

"It's not anyone's phone now." Miss Myers glanced down at the pieces littering the carpet. "Whoops."

"Oh, you sound like a native," Luke said mockingly.

"Careful," Miss Myers warned him.

"Mum will not hand Sky over to you."

"Oh, she will eventually. Or Sky will hand herself over. She has a noble streak, my girl."

"She's not yours," Luke hissed. "Andrew..."

"Oh, yeah, let's make Andrew save us again! Let's get him to take the risks! Andrew, fight demons while the Slayers stand around and look pretty! Andrew, lie to the vampires who can smell lies and will rip your throat out for it! Andrew, cook and clean and be house mother while we look down on you and make fun of you!"

Luke stared at him. "They don't..."

"You've known me two days, what would you know?" He turned to Johnson. "I want in."

"Excuse me?"

"Wolfram and Hart, I want in."

"Get rid of the boy," Miss Myers said. "Luke is all we need."

"I am a powerful sorcerer!" Andrew yelled. "Abeo!" The fragments of phone transformed into several very confused fish.

"Terrifying," Miss Myers said dryly.

"That's only a fraction of my power. I can do far more scary things than that." He gestured towards Luke, still hovering uncertainly by the table. "And I can tell you everything they know about you. Which isn't much."

"Andrew!"

"Shut up, Luke."

Johnson smiled faintly. "It seems we've been wasting our team bringing in off world specialists. The Slayer's own teammates are so eager to betray her."

"It's like you're not part of the team until you try and kill her," Andrew muttered.

"Off world specialists," Luke said abruptly.

"Pardon?" Johnson said politely.

"Off world specialists," he repeated. "You were providing Korst with his materials. I knew there was something weird about them. He was supposed to – what?"

"Now Luke, we can't give away all our secrets," Miss Myers told him. "Call your mother."

"You destroyed my phone, remember?" He glanced at the fish, still flopping around on the floor. "Andrew, what are they breathing?"

"They don't breathe. They're not real fish." He scooped one up, dropping it into a water pitcher on the table. "Now it's breathing."

Johnson slid the table phone across to him. "Call your mother. Tell her we want Sky."

"No. What do you want her for anyway? She's nothing to you."

"Payment." He glanced at Miss Myers.

"Little warlock," she said thoughtfully. "You want in? I want him to call his mother. Make him do it and you have a deal."

Andrew turned, eyeing Luke. "Not a problem. Give me half an hour."

"Andrew," Luke said warily, backing up. He knocked into a chair and almost overbalanced.

Johnson smiled. "Try not to damage him. Wolfram and Hart have plans for him."

"He'll be capable. Half an hour."

Johnson nodded, ushering Miss Myers out. They got halfway down the corridor before Luke started screaming.

 

 

Clyde had been watching for a while. Sarah Jane and Dawn between them were mostly occupying Sky, and Rani was talking to Willow. Clyde was listening to both conversations, interjecting where it was necessary.

But he'd been watching Xander and Giles. Xander was pretending to listen to Willow, putting in a few words here and there, but Clyde knew exactly how that looked and he knew Xander wasn't paying any attention. Giles was occupied with one of his ubiquitous books, occasionally asking Sarah Jane something about the Doctor – apparently he kept showing up in the demon tomes under different names – but every so often he'd look up and catch Xander's eye.

When Xander excused himself from the room, Clyde waited a few minutes before following, collecting various drink orders and heading to the kitchen. Xander was there, poking aimlessly in one of the cupboards.

"Hey," he said when he saw Clyde. "Anything wrong?"

"The girls are thirsty." Clyde found glasses in one of the cupboards, lining them up on the counter. "What's going on?"

"Sorry?"

"Something's going on. You and Giles are worried. What is it?"

"Nothing's going on."

"Xander." Clyde leaned against the counter, watching him. "I'm not stupid. What's going on?"

Xander grimaced, hitching himself up to sit on the counter. "We lost contact with Connor and the others."

"Connor and...Andrew and Luke. Right. Are we worried?"

"Not yet. Connor's a match for more or less anything, and Andrew's actually pretty competent. How's Luke?"

"Not so hot with the actual fighting, but if there's thinking to do, he's your guy. Why are you worried?"

"I just said...

"Yeah, I know what you said. Why are you worried?"

Xander studied him for a minute before laughing. "You're the me, aren't you? You're the one who's watching out all the time."

"Someone's got to."

"Yeah." Xander nodded. "Someone's got to. I'm worried because before we lost contact, they were in Wolfram and Hart."

"They... _Luke!_ Idiot boy."

"He do this often?"

"He's supposed to run his plans past me so this doesn't happen. Do you have a plan?"

"Not sure yet. We're waiting for Connor to check in, or miss his check in, whichever comes first."

Clyde's phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket, studying the display. "Unknown number."

"Answer it anyway."

"It's not going to be them."

"Stranger things. Come on."

Clyde shrugged, flicking it on to speaker. " 'Lo."

"Clyde."

"Luke." He glanced at Xander, who smiled faintly. "Where are you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said distractedly. "Listen, I need you to bring Sky to me. I think I have a way to hide her from Miss Myers."

"Great. Come back and do it here."

"No, I can't. You have to bring her here."

Clyde frowned. Was that a touch of panic in Luke's voice? "Why?"

There was a long pause before Luke said hurriedly, "Andrew's helping me and he says the place is important. Something about the resonance with the lay lines. I don't know, I wasn't following."

"You always follow. You follow everything."

"Yeah, well, magic, Clyde. I don't have a lot of applicable experience. Can you just bring her?"

"Why aren't you talking to your mum, mate?"

"Her phone's not working. Clyde, timing."

"Yeah. I hear you. Where are you?"

"I'll text you the address. Thank you, you're a life saver. If we can get Sky safe we can worry about everything else."

"Sure. See you soon." Clyde hung up, studying the phone for a long moment before looking up to meet Xander's eyes.

"Trap?"

"Trap."

 

"You're not taking Sky anywhere," Sarah Jane said for the fourth time.

"Sarah Jane, Luke would never deliberately put Sky in danger," Clyde said again. "He'd give up the rest of us first, you know that. This has to be some kind of plan."

"No," she said firmly.

"If Luke has a plan we have to let him try," Sky said patiently.

"I'll be right there with her," Clyde added.

"Me too," Dawn agreed. She and her friends had been silent, letting them fight it out between them.

"You," Rani repeated.

"I'm a fair witch. Not in Willow's league, but I can throw a few curses if I have to. Besides, I just got him to realise I'm female. I'm not risking losing him to some skanky blonde."

"This is so not the time for that," Clyde muttered.

"We can easily keep track of Dawn, and Connor'll be able to find her," Xander offered.

Dawn glared at him. "You magically lojacked me."

"Yeah," he said unapologetically. "We figured eventually something like this would happen."

Clyde laughed suddenly. "That's how Connor found you at Luke's that day. Remember?"

"To my dying day," she agreed ferverently. "So we'll take Sky, we'll find Luke and Andrew, Connor'll find us, we'll all get back here for tea. Yes?"

"No," Sarah Jane protested.

"Mum, I have to," Sky said softly.

"I can't send one of my children into danger to save the other."

"You're not sending me, I'm volunteering." Sky slid off her chair and crossed to join Clyde. "I'll be back, Mum. I promise."

"Clyde." Sarah Jane rose to her feet, moving to stand in front of him. "Bring her home."

"I'll bring them both home."

She held out the sonic lipstick; when he took it, she turned to wrap Sky in a hug.

Clyde turned to find Rani behind him. "Don't worry, Mum, I'll bring them home," he promised. Rani stared at him in silence until he shifted uncomfortably. "Rani, seriously..."

She caught his chin, jerking him in for a single, fierce kiss.

"Something tells me 'mum' was the wrong word to use there," Xander stage–whispered to Willow.

"Unless he was speaking in an Oedipal kind of way," she agreed.

Rani let Clyde go, pushing lightly to send him back a step or two. "Come home," she told him.

"Yes ma'am," he agreed, blinking dazedly.

"You couldn't have done that afterwards?" Dawn asked.

"Incentive," Rani said with a grin. "Bring them home, Dawn."

"I will." Wrapping a hand around Clyde's arm, she tugged lightly until he stumbled after her.

 

 

Luke was sitting in the not–really–a–cell they'd left him in, knees drawn up and arms wrapped around them. He hadn't seen Andrew in a while, not since he'd called Clyde. Miss Myers had really enjoyed that phone call.

He wondered why Connor hadn't come yet. It was past time for him to burst in and save the day. Luke was ready for it to happen, though.

Footsteps passed outside. He glanced up, completely disinterested. People – and things he would have called aliens, but here they were probably demons – had been passing almost constantly. It was little more than annoying now.

More footsteps, faster, and muffled yelling. They stopped outside the room and the lock was thrown back. Luke shifted, letting his knees down slowly.

Sky stumbled in. Clyde was on her heels, catching her arm when she almost overbalanced; Dawn sauntered in behind them, looking for all the world as though this happened every day. The door slammed behind them, locking firmly.

Sky scrambled to join Luke, throwing her arms around him. Luke grunted, leaning back against the wall. "What are you doing here?"

"You called, mate, we answered," Clyde said.

"You weren't supposed to bring her!"

"Yeah, well, we're here. What's the plan?"

"The plan was for you _not_ to bring her here. Where's Connor?"

"With you. Isn't he?"

Luke shook his head. "He's outside somewhere. He was supposed to get to you before you got in. Did you see Miss Myers?"

"She's busy with something, apparently."

"Paying her debt to Wolfram and Hart, I guess. She'll get to us." He glanced past Clyde. "Why are you here?"

Dawn was studying the ceiling, counting under her breath, and didn't answer. Luke looked back at Clyde for help.

"Luke, are you hurt?" Clyde asked sharply, eyeing him.

Luke glanced down at himself. "It's nothing."

Sky let go, taking a step back. "Are you?"

"I'm fine, Sky High."

"We can talk now," Dawn announced.

Clyde gestured between them. "We already were talking."

"Yes, but now they're not listening." She dropped to sit beside Luke, catching the bottom of his shirt and tugging it up briskly.

"Dawn!" he protested, trying to pull it down again.

"Oh, come on. I patch up Xander and Andrew all the time." She pushed his hand to one side, lifting the shirt a little higher.

"Luke," Clyde said in surprise. "What happened?"

Luke tugged the shirt out of Dawn's hands, covering the dark bruises on his side. "It's nothing."

"Luke," Sky started.

"It's nothing, Sky. I promise, I'm fine."

"Where's Andrew?" Dawn asked, glancing around as though he might be hiding somewhere.

"He's with Miss Myers, somewhere." Luke leaned back against the wall, suddenly tired.

"What?" Dawn said in surprise.

"He's helping Wolfram and Hart." Catching Clyde's eye, he added, "You didn't think I'd call Sky here on my own, did you?"

"Did he hurt you?" Sky asked, biting at her lip.

"Doesn't matter, Sky High. Clyde, what's the plan?"

"Dawn's lojacked. Connor will be coming to find us any time now, when Xander tells him to."

"Connor's out of touch," Luke reminded him. "I had his phone until Miss Myers destroyed it."

"He'll check in. He always does, there's a rule." Dawn carefully lifted his shirt again, eyeing the bruise. "Andrew never did that."

"No." Luke rolled up his sleeve to show her a set of scars, shiny and new like burn scars. "Andrew did that."

"I'm sorry," Sky murmured.

"Me too, Sky. You weren't supposed to be here at all. I'm sorry."

"It's all right. What's the plan?"

Luke considered for a moment. "There was a plan. I can't tell you. It could still work. When will Connor check in, Dawn?"

Dawn waved a bare wrist; they'd obviously taken her watch. "Soon."

"Good." Luke settled back against the wall, making space for Sky beside him. "You might as well sit down, Clyde. They won't be coming for a while."

"The plan?"

"The plan."

Clyde sighed, dropping to sit on the floor beside them. "How long exactly is your plan going to take?"

"As long as it takes."

"Thanks, Luke, that's helpful. Dawn, if they're not hearing us what are they hearing?"

Dawn shrugged. "General teenage grumbling. It'll trail off in a while, like we're resting. They'll probably burst in then."

"That sounds like experience," Clyde mused, leaning against the bed. "How many times were we kidnapped, Luke?"

"Two. And I was taken hostage twice. No, three times."

"More than that."

"Yeah. Probably." Luke leaned his head back against the wall.

Clyde glanced at Sky, eyebrows up.

"Rani kissed Clyde," she announced loudly.

"Did she?" Luke grinned, tilting his head so he could see Clyde without leaning away from the wall. "About time, Clyde. I'm surprised she was the first one."

"Well, I was busy rushing to the rescue! Otherwise I'd totally have done it."

"You would not."

"Well, I'm still ahead of you." Dawn shifted, and he added, "Shut up, Dawn."

"I didn't say anything," she said innocently.

"You were about to."

"How many times were you kidnapped, Dawn?" Sky asked brightly.

"More than twice. I got pretty good at it after a while."

"How do you get good at being kidnapped?" Clyde protested.

Dawn smiled. "You obviously haven't been kidnapped enough if you can still ask that."

 

They fell silent after a while; Luke was dozing, or something close to a doze, and Sky wasn't far from sleep. Clyde shifted to sit nearer to the door, listening to the movements outside.

After a little while Dawn caught his eye, gesturing upwards. "Finished."

"Got it," he agreed.

It was only a little longer when the door burst open. Clyde was on his feet; Luke stumbled off the bench, joining him in front of Sky. Dawn rose more slowly, watching them carefully.

"How nice," Miss Myers said, striding in. Andrew skulked in behind her, leaning against the wall. "Almost the whole gang. You were supposed to bring Sarah Jane, Luke."

"I told you, her phone wasn't working," Luke said shakily. Clyde shot him a brief glance but didn't speak.

"Sky, dear, it's time to come with me." Miss Myers held out a hand.

"No." Luke and Clyde overlapped each other, drawing closer together to protect her.

"Agito," Andrew murmured, gesturing. The two boys flew in opposite directions, crashing into the walls. Clyde went down; Luke stayed on his feet, just about, gripping the wall for balance.

"Luke!" Sky cried. Miss Myers caught her arm as she tried to go to him.

"What are you doing, Andrew?" Dawn demanded, leaning down slowly to help Clyde back on his feet.

"He's siding with the winner," Clyde said bitterly. "Or what he thinks is the winning side, anyway. I thought they were your friends, Andrew."

"Friends, yeah," Andrew scoffed. "Andrew, fight the demons while the Slayers..."

"Really? You're going to do the list again?" Luke asked. Andrew made a face and kicked at the ground.

"Oh dear, he's taken all the fun out of it," Miss Myers said mildly. "Come along. You can play with them later." She jerked Sky towards the door.

"No!" The boys slammed into her from behind; Miss Myers rocked but didn't fall, thrusting Sky towards Andrew, and turned to shove them both backwards.

"Careful," she said warningly, catching Clyde's arm when he came at her again. "I could turn you against your friends in the blink of an eye. Be a good boy and just sit down here, and I won't have to."

"Just let her go!" Luke demanded, glaring at Andrew. Andrew backed into the corridor, still holding onto Sky; Miss Myers let Clyde go with a shove, pushing him into Dawn.

"Be good, boys. Or I'll let Andrew play with Luke some more."

Clyde caught Luke's shudder but didn't look at him. "Andrew doesn't even know Luke."

"Yes. Just think how much more fun he could have with someone he does know." She smiled at Dawn, stepping out and pulling the door closed behind herself.

"Luke, when does your plan kick in?" Clyde asked urgently.

"Should have by now." Luke crossed to lean against the door, eyes closed as he listened.

"What are you doing?" Dawn asked, watching him.

"I'm checking the tension..." He took a step back, touching the door lightly. "Clyde, can you kick right here?"

"Think it'll help?"

Luke grinned faintly. "Might make you feel better."

"Maybe. Right there?"

"Yeah." Luke moved out of his way, watched as he squared up to the door.

"What's the plan, Luke?" Dawn asked quietly.

"I can't tell you my first plan. Right now the plan is get out of here and make a lot of noise. Keep Miss Myers from being able to focus on Sky."

"I'm good at noise."

Clyde's third kick split the door around the lock. Another kick knocked the lock completely out of the frame, and he shrugged. "Not great security."

"I don't think they were really worried about us," Luke said grimly. "Come on. We've only got one chance at this."


	9. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's one mildly bad word in here. Be aware.
> 
> So I have a question for you. If there was going to be a sequel to this - and I make no promises - what Buffyverse characters should be in it? This story is more heavily on the SJA side of things, so if I was writing a sequel I'd probably put in extra Buffyverse to balance it out. Any ideas?

Connor had been wandering around for a while, sticking his head into various departments to check them out. This Wolfram and Hart wasn't anything like Angel's – apart from anything else, the people were in the majority and clearly in power – but he was still able to find pretty much everything he wanted to see.

When the alarms started going off he headed back to reception. Dawn was somewhere below him – he could feel the light tug – but if Luke was risking a fight, something had gone very, very wrong with the plan. He'd wanted to let it run for as long as possible, and this was a bad sign.

When he saw Andrew hurrying past he changed direction to follow him. The warlock wasn't under guard and no one was trying to stop him, which seemed like a bad sign as far as Connor was concerned.

Connor Reilly hadn't consciously remembered how to fight. He hadn't known anything about demons and vampires, though his dreams were always vivid and his drawings full of fantastic creatures he could never name. He hadn't remembered his babyhood, though certain songs or smells always made him pause.

But he'd always, always known how to hide and how to find someone. Andrew was watching around him – years with the Slayer army had taught him that much – but he hadn't a chance of seeing Connor. No one, including his father, could see Connor if he didn't want them to.

He waited until they were out of view of anyone to approach Andrew. The wizard jumped when Connor touched his shoulder; he'd have been screaming if Connor hadn't already clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Just me," Connor said, letting him go.

"Connor." Andrew backed up, hitting the wall with a thump. "What are you doing here?"

"What's going on?" Connor asked, tilting his head towards the reception. The alarms were still going off.

"I don't know, I was trying..." He trailed off, gesturing vaguely.

"Trying?" Connor prompted him impatiently. Dawn was on the move somewhere nearby.

"To find out. We should go. This is...they could find us."

"No one's around."

"There're cameras." He nodded up over Connor's shoulder. Connor turned, distracted, and Andrew hissed "Caedo!"

Connor's feet went from under him and he crashed to the floor. For a moment he couldn't tell which way was up; blinking, he shook the effects off in time to see Andrew vanish around a corner.

Connor scrambled to his feet, shaking away the lingering disorientation, and headed after the faint trace of Dawn.

 

 

Luke's plan of 'smash things until Miss Myers comes after us' was surprisingly fun, Dawn decided, hitting another guard with her improvised club. Clyde was at her shoulder, helping her keep the guards out of the room they'd temporarily barricaded themselves into; Luke was at the computer, hastily doing as much damage to the building's systems as he could.

"They're trying to shut me out," he said warningly.

"Can you stop them?" Dawn asked, jabbing the next guard. She hit rather lower than she'd meant to; Clyde winced, shooting her a betrayed look.

"I think so, for a minute anyway – there, crashed the security cameras. That'll make it easier."

"Can you kill communications?" Clyde suggested.

"That's the next thing..."

"Duck," Dawn ordered. Clyde did so and she smashed the last guard in the nose. "Did you know you can kill someone if you do that right?"

"Yeah, I did, actually. Did you do it right?"

She leaned down, studying the guard critically. "No. He's breathing. Luke, we've got about fifteen seconds and then we have to go – these guards are just showing everyone where we are."

"We could move them," Clyde suggested.

Dawn shook her head. "There's blood on the carpet. No point. Ten seconds, Luke."

"I know, I'm nearly there." He was typing rapidly; Clyde moved around behind him to watch the symbols fly around the screen.

"What are you doing?" he asked softly.

"Crashing communications...and trying to wipe out their databases while I'm at it. I don't suppose they left you your phone?"

"Sorry, we got mostly competent bad guys this time. Why?"

"We'll have to find one."

"Three seconds," Dawn said warningly.

"Yeah, I'm there." He hit two more keys, watched as the code erased itself, and then kicked the computer until it sparked out. Clyde backed up hurriedly, watching with a frown.

"Luke, mate, you all right?"

"I'm fine," Luke assured him. "I just need to find High. Sky."

Clyde glanced at Dawn, who gestured near her head and then shrugged. "Come on. Let's get out of here, anyway."

"Think Connor's looking for you?" Clyde took the lead out of the room, glancing in both directions before randomly turning left.

"With all these alarms going off? He's definitely looking for us." Dawn pushed Luke out on Clyde's heels, following behind him.

 

 

 

Connor tracked Dawn to a small computer room in the basement; she was crouched by the door, apparently on guard, while Luke talked urgently into a cell phone and typed quickly on the only working computer Connor had seen. Clyde was leaning against the wall behind him, watching critically.

Connor blocked Dawn's swing, ducking under it to get into the room before she'd realised who he was. "What's he doing?"

"Sorry," Dawn said apologetically.

Connor glanced at her improvised weapon. "Nice club. What's he doing?"

"He's talking to a friend of theirs who's some big computer security guy. They're trying to crash the system and burn all the data."

"Why?"

"Because we don't want Wolfram and Hart to have access to Miss Myer's knowledge," Clyde said without looking away from Luke. "Have you seen Sky?"

"I thought she was with you."

Luke's hand spasmed on the keyboard for a moment before he resumed typing.

"She was with us. Miss Myers took her," Dawn explained.

"Miss Myers and Andrew," Clyde agreed. "What's up with him?"

"I met him," Connor said. "He knocked me off my feet."

" _Andrew_ did?" Clyde studied him. "No offence, man, but he's a beanpole."

"He used magic." Glancing at Dawn, he carefully pronounced, "Caedo."

"Magic," she confirmed. "Luke, why exactly did he switch sides?"

Luke gestured her to wait, talking quickly into the phone. "And then...? Right. Thanks, Mr Jackson." He flipped it closed, passing it absently to Clyde and typing for another moment.

"Where'd you get the phone?" Connor asked.

"Nicked it off a guard." Clyde stuck it into his pocket, watching as Luke pushed back from the desk. "Done?"

"It'll take a minute."

"And it'll work?"

"It's the Armageddon virus."

Clyde nodded. "Right. It'll work. Good thing he had a copy lying around."

"Luke," Dawn said semi–patiently. "Andrew?"

"Oh. Yeah." Luke rubbed at his forehead. "He – basically he said he's sick of you guys making fun of him while he does all the work. I don't know, there were a lot of details I didn't understand."

"You're not understanding a lot today, Luke," Clyde said suspiciously.

"It's magic and stuff that's happened to them. I have no context. Connor, can you find Sky?"

"Have to start from somewhere she's been, but yeah. I can find her." He glanced at the computer. "That thing done?"

"Almost." He glanced at Connor. "When it's done I need you to destroy this computer. Completely dead."

"Got it," Connor agreed.

"You think they could track it back?" Dawn asked.

"We definitely don't want Wolfram and Hart getting their hands on the Armageddon virus," Clyde said, shuddering.

"Mr Jackson and I put a special feature in it," Luke told him. "It'll wipe out their computers and then go into hiding. They won't find it. Not until they try and link to their backups, anyway." He pushed away from the computer, glancing at Connor.

"You two should back up." Connor watched as they shuffled away; as soon as they were far enough from the table he smashed a fist through the computer, sending a shower of sparks over the desk and floor.

"Nice one," Dawn complemented him. "Really, well done. Now you're going to tear up your hand pulling it out."

"Hey, I killed a goddess with this move. A little respect, please." He twisted his wrist, pulling it free and immediately smashing the computer from the other side. "Enough?" he asked Luke.

"That should do it," Luke agreed. "Do that to every computer we come across."

"We'll never get them all," Clyde pointed out.

"The point isn't to get them all. The point is to make Wolfram and Hart think we were trying to get them all. Then they won't be looking at the programming."

"No wonder they want you," Connor muttered. "Come on, we need to get somewhere Sky was so I can pick up the trail. Do you remember which way you came?"

"I do," Dawn said quickly. "I'll lead."

"Um," Clyde started.

"I have the weapon, I know which way we came, I'm going first. You help Luke."

"Whatever you say," Clyde agreed quickly. Luke hadn't protested her assumption that he needed help, which was worrying. And really, Clyde was ready to be out of here.

Besides, she really knew how to use that club.

They headed back the way they'd come, towards the cell. Clyde kept an eye on Luke, but he was walking and talking to Connor and didn't seem to be in trouble.

Halfway there Clyde hesitated, looking down a side corridor. "Luke?"

"Yeah."

"Remember when Sky was a baby?"

"Never met her, but yeah."

Clyde took a step into the corridor. "All the bulbs are blown out here."

"I thought she couldn't do that anymore," Dawn protested, joining them.

"She can't, really," Luke said absently, studying one of the lights. "High emotion...Connor, was she here?"

Connor wandered a little way along the corridor. "Definitely here."

"Clever girl," Clyde murmured. "She's leaving us a trail."

"Someone's leaving us a trail." Connor came back to them. "Myers has to know what Sky can do, right?"

"As long as she was here, it doesn't matter," Luke said firmly. "Which way, Connor?"

"This way." Connor gestured along the corridor. "Dawn, let me lead."

"Yeah." Dawn nodded, slipping to the back of the group. "Off you go." Connor nodded, heading away along the corridor.

The trail was clear and fairly fresh; every bulb was blown out along Sky's path. Either she was blowing them, or someone really wanted them to find her. Connor didn't bother worrying about which it was. Either way they'd get to Sky.

A couple of minutes after they'd found it, though, Connor signalled a halt. He could hear something, on the edge of his hearing, something familiar. Something he couldn't quite pin down.

"What is it?" Luke asked.

"I hear...something..." Connor tilted his head, trying to recapture the sound.

"Something alive? A trap? A mystical something or other ready to slam closed on us? Give us a clue, here," Clyde said.

"Sshhh," he said, irritated. "I can't..."

Dawn slipped up to his side. "Where is it?" she asked quietly.

"I don't...in the walls? I can only just hear it."

"Is it dangerous?"

"I think, yeah. I'm...I can almost remember it. I used to know it, I'm sure of that."

"In the Hyperion?"

He shook his head slowly. "Before that."

His memories of Quor'toth were fractured and incomplete. He still _knew_ most of what had happened there, but it was like recounting a story he'd heard once; the actual memories were long gone, lost somewhere in the spell that had remade his life.

"Something you knew in Quor'toth?"

"Yeah. Something – I wasn't afraid of it. But I had to be aware of it."

"If it's not going to jump us right now, can we keep going?" Luke asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's focusing on us."

"Seems like a really good reason to get away," Clyde pointed out.

Dawn glanced up sharply. "I hear that."

"In the walls, right?" Connor turned in a slow circle, staring at the walls around them.

"No." Luke stepped away from them, moving down to the nearest corner. "Not in, on."

"What are they?" Clyde called without moving.

"Sort of like luminous jellyfish? Not anything I recognise, but..."

Connor was at Luke's side, one hand on his shoulder. "Back away slowly," he murmured.

"What are they?" Luke obeyed; Clyde noted uncomfortably that his gaze was locked on the top of the walls, almost at ceiling level.

"Sluks."

"Whats?"

"Sluks. They're parasites, they'll drive a body to death. They're always thirsty. Back, Luke."

"I am."

"Faster."

"I'll trip over you!"

"Luke, faster," Dawn said, looking upwards. Clyde followed her gaze to see the Sluks crawling along the walls towards them. "Connor, let him turn around."

"If we look away..."

"They're already behind you. Move it!"

Connor turned Luke, pushing him towards Clyde without looking away from the Sluks. "Clyde, you need to start moving too."

"How dangerous are these things?" Clyde asked, steadying Luke and starting back the way they'd come.

"Clyde, Sky," Luke protested.

"We'll go around, mate."

"Fairly," Dawn said.

"Fai...the Sluks?"

"Fairly dangerous," she agreed. "They're pretty quick, but if we keep an eye on them, we...Clyde, left."

"That's not the way we came in," he protested.

"I know, but it'll get us to the stairs and maybe we can lose these guys."

"Where is everyone?" Luke said suddenly.

"What?" Dawn said distractedly, swinging her club. The nearest Sluk drew back all of three centimetres.

"Everyone," he said again. "There should be people around."

"The alarms," Connor reminded him. "They were all evacuated, and you guys knocked out most of the ones who stayed. There's only Miss Myers and whatever goons she had."

Luke frowned. "Really?"

"And Andrew," Dawn added.

"I was counting him as a goon."

"He's not really a goon. More of a minion."

"Minion implies power, doesn't it?"

"He has power."

"In the structure here?"

"I don't think there's a structure, there's just Miss Myers."

"This is fascinating," Connor said tightly, "But could we be moving, please?"

"We are moving," Clyde snapped.

"Faster?"

"Not all of us have super speed!"

"Blearugh!" Luke lurched into him from the side.

"Luke..."

"Sorry. There was one on the wall. I put my hand on it."

"It didn't get you?"

"We'd know," Connor said briefly. "Luke, you all right?"

"It startled me."

They reached the stairwell and Clyde stepped into the open area in the middle. The ceiling here was several floors above them and the Sluks, temporarily unable to get any closer, clustered on the walls.

"Are they watching us?" Clyde asked, eyeing them.

"They don't have eyes." Connor caught Luke's wrist, inspecting his hand briefly. "They're aware of us, though." Glancing around, he added, "I'm sorry, Sky hasn't been through here."

"Up or down?" Dawn asked, watching him.

"We can't let the Sluks out of here." He considered for a moment. "Up."

"Won't we be trapping ourselves?" Clyde asked.

"We'll be trapping them. I don't understand where they're from," he added, mostly to himself. "They wiped out the Hyperion ones, and there's never been another infestation."

"How can you tell?"

"Because if a rip had formed for them to come through, we'd have known. The Council would have known, and probably my dad. It's the kind of thing they watch out for."

"Miss Myers has portal technology," Luke said quietly. "It's how she got here chasing Sky. The Metalkind had it, too. She's providing creatures to Wolfram and Hart, in payment for their help in getting Sky." 

"That seems uneven," Clyde noted, dragging him towards the stairs as the Sluks began to move. "How did Wolfram and Hart help with that exactly?"

Luke floundered for a moment. "I went there," he said finally.

Clyde looked back at Dawn, who shrugged at him. "The concussion."

"Still? I thought he was over that!"

"It can recur. For weeks, sometimes, although his was fairly mild so it shouldn't take that long."

"Faster," Connor said from behind them.

"One track mind," Clyde muttered. "Luke, can you go faster?"

"Yeah." Luke started moving a little faster, keeping one hand on the rail. They climbed in silence for a minute or two; Dawn was swiping at the nearest Sluks, trying to keep them off.

"Connor, in another minute we're going to run out of up," Clyde warned.

"We need something to stop them," Dawn said tightly.

"I need a blade. Something sharp."

"Unfortunately, I didn't pack anything and if I had it'd've been confiscated! Why don't you have anything?"

"Mine's too short."

"Nothing else?"

"Alcohol."

"Salt," Luke offered.

"What?" Connor glanced up at him.

"Salt. Like with slugs? It dries them out completely."

"Salt," Connor repeated thoughtfully. "Maybe. Got any on you?"

"No."

"We'll keep it in mind," Clyde said briskly. "Connor, we've got about twelve steps here."

Connor nodded. "Get down the nearest corridor. Dawn, you too."

"Where are we going?" Clyde protested.

"Anywhere that isn't here." He ran one hand along the wall as they headed into a corridor. "Luke, any idea where I should be looking for water pipes?"

Luke glanced over his shoulder at him. "Lower than that. Almost at the base of the wall. But there's no guarantee there's any along here. You should find a loo and start from there."

"No time, they're on our heels." Connor hunched over, running his hand lower on the wall. "Here?"

"Around there, yeah. Will it stop them?"

"They're always thirsty. Sluks will drink themselves to death if you give them half a chance." He hesitated, checking the wall again before straightening. "Everyone turn around."

Dawn dragged the two boys around and Connor launched a kick at the wall. The plaster cracked, revealing the innards of the wall; crouching again, he swiftly tugged out a pipe, twisting until it broke apart. There wasn't much water in it, but what was there started flowing over the floor. Connor jumped over the rapidly forming puddle, joining the others and watching as the Sluks swarmed the pipe.

"There's no danger they'll get into the pipes, right?" Clyde asked softly. "They'd get out of the building."

"They could be out of the building already," Dawn pointed out.

"Not while we're here." Connor started them moving again. "We're a lot more tasty than anything they might or might not pick up outside."

"There's got to be another way down, right?" Clyde murmured, leaning into the nearest room to check.

"There'll be fire stairs." Luke pointed. "That way."

"They might be there already." Dawn slipped neatly around him and into the lead. "No sign of Sky, Connor?"

"No one's been this high up in days." He tensed suddenly, snatching at Clyde and Luke and dragging them to the floor. "Dawn, _down_!"

Dawn dropped as every light in the corridor blew. The wires ripped out of the walls, sparking wildly. Luke caught at Dawn's leg, yanking her back into the group and rolling partway on top of her. Behind them the Sluks were shrieking; Connor glanced back as best he could, but he couldn't pick them out of the mess.

Dawn bucked under them; Connor grabbed the nearest bit of her and pressed down and she relaxed, going limp as they waited for the sparks to stop raining down. It took a surprisingly long time; Connor wasn't sure where all the power was coming from, since the wires were mostly hanging free by now.

Eventually the sparks trailed off. Connor threw a glance backwards – the Sluks had vanished, and he wasn't sure that was a good sign – and rose to his feet, leaning down to disentangle Clyde. Luke came next, balancing on his own which was a good sign.

"Dawn?" Connor hunkered when she didn't move, reaching to touch her shoulder. "Did you get hit?"

She murmured something he couldn't hear, reaching for his hand.

"Connor," Luke said suddenly.

Dawn caught his wrist and yanked, almost knocking him over until he caught his balance. "I'm thirsty," she hissed, turning to reveal pale skin and fever–bright eyes.

"Shit," Clyde blurted, backing up a few steps. Dawn twisted at the movement; Connor caught her arm, holding her in place.

"I'm thirsty," she said again.

"I know. Come on." He hauled her to her feet, turning her bodily away from the puddle further down the corridor. Dawn strained towards it, but she hadn't a chance of getting away from him.

"Connor, I can find..."

"Don't," he interrupted Luke.

"Why not?"

"Because if we do what you're thinking of, we'll never get her out of here. Come on. Fire stairs."

"Thirsty," Dawn whimpered, stumbling after him.

"Yeah. Come on, we'll find you something."

"I'm sorry," Luke offered.

"Why?"

"I didn't see..."

"None of us saw, we were all hiding from your sister's pyrotechnics." Clyde scooped up the fallen club, swinging it once or twice to get the feel of it. "Connor, should we be worried that the rest of them seem to have vanished?"

"Only one can infest a body. As long as it's in Dawn, we're safe. They'll know there's one there."

"And how long do we have before it desiccates her?" Luke asked, pushing opening the fire stairs door for him.

"Not very." Connor glanced at him. "Anything brewing in that genius brain?"

"If we can find Miss Myers, maybe. She's got to have a lab. I can do something there."

"We haven't managed to find her yet," Clyde pointed out.

"Thirsty," Dawn offered.

"Yeah," Connor said absently. "Clyde, can you hang onto her for a minute? Do _not_ let her go."

"Yeah." Clyde passed the club to Luke, who stared blankly at it, and took Dawn's arm. "What are you doing?"

"I move faster on my own. Stay here for a minute, I'll be right back." He was gone before they could protest, melting into the shadows of the stairwell.

"Clyde," Luke said softly, gesturing upwards. Clyde followed his gaze to see several Sluks gathered around a leak in the roof. Dawn strained mutely towards them, but she didn't try to pull away from Clyde.

"Let's go down a little," Luke suggested.

"Yeah. How're you doing?"

He smiled grimly. "I don't have time to be concussed right now. Later." Clyde glared at him, and he added, "I'm all right. There's a drum going off in my head, but I'm all right."

"Not going to throw up?"

"I really hope not. No. I don't feel sick. Just..." he gestured loosely. "Fuzzy."

"Ah. Welcome to our level."

Connor reappeared, studying Dawn for a moment before saying "Found them. Three levels down."

"Did you see Sky?" Luke asked.

"No. I didn't get that close; there's guards on the door and I didn't want to take them out until we're ready. We don't have time to track her down again if she gets away."

Luke nodded, tightening his grip on the club. "Let's go, then."

"Uh uh." Clyde took the club out of his hands. "You're not hurting anyone."

"Clyde..."

"No. I didn't keep Sky safe, but you're not going to start beating people up. I'd never be able to look Sarah Jane in the eyes again. Just keep hold of Dawn and we'll do it."

"Thirsty," Dawn told them.

"All right," Luke agreed. "Be careful."

"Always."

"Follow us as quick as you can," Connor told him. "Three floors down, take a right, follow the mayhem."

"Three, right. We're right behind you."

Connor nodded, turning to dart down the stairs. Clyde grinned a little shakily, following him. Luke glanced at Dawn, tugging lightly at her hand. "Come on. Let's go."

"I'm so thirsty, Luke. Please..."

"We're getting you something to drink. I promise. It's this way." he tugged again and this time she followed him, stumbling now as dehydration began to set in in earnest.

 

 

Sarah Jane was pacing.

Rani watched from the corner of her eye as she moved back and forth, pausing in each revolution to gaze out the windows. She had been talking to Mr Giles, but apparently she'd given that up.

"Sorry." She looked back at Willow. "I missed that, what did you say?"

"I was asking about the Nightmare Man. We had something like that, years ago. But now I'm gonna ask, are you ok?"

"I want them to come back." Rani shrugged helplessly. "I hate this. Normally I'm out there with them." Glancing at Sarah Jane, she added, "We both are."

"I know how you feel," Willow agreed. "Do you trust them, though?"

"With my life. But with theirs..."

"I know."

"Sorry. This isn't helping." Rani deliberately shook it off, straightening in her seat. "The Nightmare Man, right? He was Luke's nightmare, really; you should talk to him. I only saw him for a while, in the nightmare world."

"He brought you to a different world?"

"Another dimension, Luke said. The place your mind goes when you dream. The Nightmare Man ate fear, and to get it he trapped us in nightmares."

Willow considered her. "What was yours? Or, ignore that question cos it's rude. Whichever you like." 

Rani smiled. "I was a newsreader. For the BBC. Big time. But to get there I had to expose Sarah Jane and everything she's done, denounce her for placing us in danger. Clyde said he was trapped in a pointless job, a chippy, doing nothing and going nowhere."

"I had to perform. On stage, Madam Butterfly. And I didn't know the part, the lines, or anything." She thought for a moment. "The First Slayer put me on stage as well. That was Death of a Salesman, though."

Rani smiled faintly. "Performance anxiety?"

"Just in front of strangers. You should see me with a group of Baby Slayers."

"You know, you should think of a different name for them. Baby Slayers, it's not a good image." Willow laughed and Rani grinned, sobering as she glanced at Sarah Jane. "He kept Sarah Jane awake. We were all in nightmares by then, and he destroyed her only means of helping us and left her awake. Trapped and unable to help us. That's her nightmare."

"Giles' nightmare was Buffy being turned into a vampire."

"Was that likely?"

"Always. It's the top boast for a vampire, _I killed a Slayer._ Spike killed two when he was evil."

"I wish I could help her," Rani murmured, watching Sarah Jane start another restless circuit of the room.

Willow glanced around, catching Xander's eye. He grimaced, putting aside his book and crossing to step into Sarah Jane's path. "Sarah Jane, can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you." She glanced around. "I'm sorry, I'm probably annoying everyone."

"No. Well, maybe. A little bit. And, y'know, when I say little bit..."

"You mean large bit."

"I mean really, really, yeah." He touched her shoulder lightly. "Connor will keep them safe. He's predictable that way."

"I'm sure he will." She glanced around. "Is there something I can be doing?"

"Giles found some references he thinks are to your Doctor, and he picked out some demons that might actually be aliens. You could have a look at those, it'd help."

"Of course. Actually – Rani?"

"Yeah," Rani said, glancing up.

"Call Mr Smith and put him on to Willow. See if he can figure out a way to transfer the Alien Files to the Council's systems. They might be useful." To Xander, she added, "We made a number of files about aliens we faced, strengths and weaknesses. They might help your girls."

"Thank you. Any help we can give them can make a difference."

 

Luke followed the sounds of mayhem through the corridor and stepped over the three bodies in the hall, not bothering to stop and check them. The door they'd been guarding lay in pieces and he slipped through, tugging Dawn after him.

At first he couldn't figure out what was happening; Clyde was holding onto Sky's arm, but she was pulling against him, trying to get free, and Connor was yelling at Miss Myers, threatening her with Dawn's club and a small but wickedly sharp knife. Miss Myers looked pleased with herself, watching the chaos with a smirk.

"Connor." Luke crossed to stand behind him; he figured that was probably the safest place, whatever was happening. "What's going on?"

"She turned Clyde," he said bitterly. "Sky says she's all right, but I can't get Clyde to let go of her."

"Of course you can't," Miss Myers agreed. "I have his mind in my hands. Careful, Luke," she added when he started forward. "I can crush it as easily as set it free."

He halted, looking helplessly at Sky, who aimed a kick at Clyde's ankle. He hissed, shaking her hard, and she almost collapsed, staying on her feet only through his grip on her arm.

"Did you bring the Sluks?" Connor asked.

"Useful little creature, aren't they?" Miss Myers said happily. "Wolfram and Hart are very happy with them."

"They're completely uncontrollable. You know that."

"Oh, not any more." She gestured to a computer on one side of the lab. "All I have to do is type a command in there –" She looked at Luke as she added "it's off the network, luckily, or you'd have released them into the city – and they'll obey me."

"Get this one out of Dawn," Luke demanded.

"Luke, dear, you're not in a position to make demands. You know that. You have no leverage here. I have your sister, your friend, and her life all in my hands."

"Yeah," Connor agreed, smiling. Luke found himself shrinking away from that look. "But he has the Destroyer."

Andrew burst through the doors; Miss Myers looked up, distracted, and Connor vanished into a blur. Clyde went flying backwards, crashing into the far wall, and Luke found Sky in his arms. He let go of Dawn to wrap his arms around her. " _Sky_. Are you all right? Did she do anything?"

"No." Sky turned her arm over to show him a needle mark. "She just took some blood. That's all. She said she was going to reactivate me. Make me a bomb again. I don't want that, I don't want it."

"We won't let it happen," he promised. Glancing around, he lunged at Dawn in time to stop her drinking from a beaker. "No! That'll kill you!"

"I'm so thirsty," Dawn whimpered.

"I know, but not that. Andrew! We need alcohol. Look for anything with ethanol on the label."

Andrew nodded, starting to scan the nearest shelves, and Miss Myers hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Switching sides again?" Connor said in disgust.

"He was never on their side," Luke said triumphantly. "That was our plan, we worked it out. He pretended so he could get the information we need. Which..." Andrew held up a memory stick, still searching. "...he has," Luke finished, glancing at Miss Myers. "Sorry about that."

"He hurt you," Sky protested.

Luke lifted his sleeve to show smooth, unmarked skin. "No. That was pretend too."

"I nearly killed him," Connor pointed out.

"You don't kill humans. We were counting on that. I couldn't tell you. We know Miss Myers would be watching us, all the time."

Clyde picked himself up from the floor, shaking his head, and Miss Myers glared at him. "Stop them!"

"Which of them?"

Andrew held up a bottle for Luke's approval; at his nod, he tossed it to Connor. "Sky, go to Andrew," Luke said quickly. "He's going to get you out of here, safe."

"What about you?" she protested.

"We're coming. I have to stop the Sluks."

Dawn retched, trying to get away from Connor, and he wrapped an arm around her, pressing the bottle against her lips. "Come on, you're so thirsty, drink it!"

"Sky, please, go," Luke said urgently. "Andrew..."

Andrew caught her arm, licking his lips nervously. "Sure?"

"Get her out of here!"

"Eo!"

The two vanished in a haze of smoke and Miss Myers howled in rage. "Kill Luke!" she ordered Clyde, who obediently picked up a scalpel and advanced on Luke.

"Luke," Connor said in warning.

"It's all right. Stay with Dawn. I've got this."

"How exactly have you got this? He'll kill you!"

"He really won't. Clyde's always getting controlled by something or other. He's never killed me yet."

"He only has to do it once."

Luke grinned, retreating as Clyde advanced. "Yes, but I've known Clyde for years. We've played war games together, and I know exactly..." He cut off as Clyde lunged, spinning to pick up a tray and hit him soundly across the back of the head with it. Connor winced in sympathy as Clyde sank to the floor, dazed.

"...what he's going to do." Luke kicked the scalpel out of his reach and glanced across at Connor. "How's Dawn?"

On cue, she vomited harshly, throwing up the Sluk. Connor grabbed a syringe from a nearby tray, stabbing it neatly through the head.

Luke crossed to the computer, studying it for a moment. "You won't break the security on it," Miss Myers told him. "You haven't won anything here. I can find your sister any time I want. I will have her."

"No." He typed for a moment, spinning the screen to show her as her password screen faded away. "You won't, Miss Myers. I can stop the Sluks from here. It'll look like they failed. Wolfram and Hart won't want anything to do with you after you unleashed the Destroyer on them and failed in your mission."

Dawn sat up, shakily, looking around. "Where...?"

"Miss Myer's lab," Connor told her. "How do you feel?"

"I might be sick," she announced.

"That's the ethanol. Sorry. Hangover without actually being drunk." Luke was typing rapidly, eyes on the screen. "You didn't drink enough to do any serious harm, though, not at that concentration."

"That's comforting."

"If you're going to be sick, aim at her," Connor suggested, gesturing towards Miss Myers.

"She isn't dead?" Dawn said groggily, pushing her hair back and lurching to her feet.

"Not yet."

"Connor," Luke said warningly.

"You want her coming after your sister again?"

"She won't be coming after anyone." He grinned, spinning the screen again. "Her government's ordered her to stop this experiment and return home. There's a warrant on her. Connor, who do we know who might be interested in that?"

Connor grinned, pulling Dawn's phone out of her pocket. She whirled on him, about to protest, and then her eyes went out of focus and she leaned over the nearest table, throwing up. "What's your number, Luke?"

Luke reeled it off, watching the screen again. Connor could just see a status readout on the Sluks; as they watched, it switched to read *All terminated* Miss Myers scowled, starting towards the door.

"Leaving so soon?" Connor slid into her path, tossing the phone to Luke. "I don't think so."

"I can turn you against them as easily as him."

"Protegere et clypeus," Dawn said huskily. A light shimmered around Connor's head; turning, he saw the same light around Luke and Dawn's. "Don't think you can now."

"To protect and bright shield," Luke mused.

"I've been telling you for months, Luke. It's not the exact words. It's the intention behind them."

Miss Myers clamped one hand to Connor's head. He watched patiently, raising one eyebrow when nothing happened. "...ow?" Catching her wrist, he flipped her onto her back, crouching over her. "Don't make me do that again. Sometimes bones get broken the second time."

"Mr Smith," Luke said when the computer finally picked up, laughing softly at the look on Miss Myers' face. "Can you contact the Judoon, please? We have Miss Myers in custody and are prepared to hand her over. Captain Tybo's probably still in the area."

"Certainly, Luke. One moment please." There was a click and then, much more faintly, "Attention, Judoon ship. This is Bannerman Road. The criminal known as Miss Myers is in our custody. Co ordinates follow." After a moment he continued, "They have acknowledged and a ship is incoming, Luke. What is your situation?"

"We're a little battered but all in one piece. Can you call Mum and let her know? As soon as we've handed over Miss Myers we'll be heading back to the Slayer house."

"I shall."

"Oh, and Mr Smith? Next time you see Sky, give her a scan, will you? She says Miss Myers didn't do anything to her, but..."

"I shall. Be careful, Luke."

"Always. Thanks." He hung up, tossing the phone back to Connor. "Thanks."

"What about Clyde?" Connor asked, eyeing him. Clyde was conscious, but not moving, watching them carefully.

Luke considered, crouching next to Miss Myers. "I don't suppose you want to do the decent thing and just let him go, do you?"

"Why would I want to do that?"

"It might make the Judoon go easier on you."

She studied him, sitting up carefully. Luke didn't move, watching her. "You can't change her nature, you know. She was made to destroy and she will."

"I was made to help aliens take over this world. I came close, a couple of times, but so far I've only protected it. Connor was made to destroy the world. He hasn't done that yet. Dawn was made to rip the veils between dimensions. That hasn't happened. People can change, and you made her a person. Why did you do that? Surely the Metalkind would have just killed her as soon as they saw her?"

"They don't kill children. They'd have left her alive long enough for her to do as she was meant to." Miss Myers glanced at Clyde. "He wasn't much help."

"He loves Sky. Of course he wasn't much help. He doesn't want to hurt her. You'd have had to control him much more deeply than you do to make him obey you."

"Maybe." She made a sharp gesture and Clyde arched soundlessly, blue light flickering over his face. "Humans. You're so ridiculously complicated."

"Yes," Luke agreed, sliding away to join Clyde. "We are. Clyde? You ok?"

"What hit me?" Clyde struggled upwards, wincing when he tried to put weight on his wrist. "Or what did I hit?"

"You didn't hit anyone," Luke assured him. "Miss Myers grabbed you."

"I remember – sort of. Man, that thing does a number on you." He looked up, gaze flicking from Connor to Dawn. "You look better."

"Thanks," she agreed. "I feel like shit, but you're kind to say it."

"Where's Sky?"

"Andrew took her home. Or, back to the Slayer's house, anyway."

"Andrew did. Isn't he..."

"Not evil," Connor put in. "Apparently."

"Man, you turn evil for twenty minutes, you miss a lot."

"I'm sure Luke will explain it all to us later. Luke, shouldn't we go somewhere the Judoon can actually see us?"

"Judoon, too," Clyde murmured.

"Let me look at that." Dawn lurched over to his side, gripping his arm gently. "Is this your dominant hand?"

"I'm left handed."

"No, then. Good. I think you've fractured something." She tore a strip from her top to bandage it.

Luke glanced back at Miss Myers. "Can we trust you?"

"What are my choices?"

"Walk on your own and don't try anything. Or Connor can make some kind of leash and we'll use that." Connor grinned on cue when she looked at him. "What are we sending you back to?"

"What?"

"Your sentence."

"Imprisonment." She rose to her feet. "I'll walk," she snapped when Connor took a step towards her.

"Imprisonment?"

"Life. And confinement to the planet if I'm ever released. Why do you care?"

"I'm glad it's not a death penalty."

"Why?"

Luke shrugged. "Part of Sky is you, however much we argue against it. The woman who made me is dead. I'm glad you won't be."

Miss Myers studied him, frowning. "You're very strange, Luke Smith. Even for a human."

"So I'm told," he agreed. "Connor, can you get us to the roof? The Judoon will probably land there."

"Yeah. This way." Connor gestured, leading them out. Miss Myers followed him, head held high.

"It a good idea to let her wander around?" Clyde asked.

"She has nowhere to go. Connor's too fast for her." He glanced at Dawn. "How are you feeling?"

"If you can get the brass band in my head to stop, that'd be great."

He smiled faintly. "When we get back to your house, lots of painkillers."

"Oooh, yes please."

"I'll help her," Clyde said. "You're still dizzy."

"Not much," Luke protested.

"Not much is too much when we're going up stairs. Come on." He got an arm around Dawn, following Luke towards the stairs.


	10. Chapter Nine

The Judoon arrived fairly promptly – "They can't have gotten very far away," Luke said when Connor commented on it – and after produced a pair of metal gloves for Miss Myers to wear, they took her into custody.

"Help rendered," Captain Tybo said. "Prior sentence is lifted."

Luke blinked, glancing at Clyde and back at Tybo. "The sentence on Clyde and Rani?"

"Prior sentence is lifted."

"Thank you," Clyde said quickly. To Luke, he added softly, "Think the Doctor'll take us next time he comes to visit?"

"I don't think the sentence was stopping him, he doesn't care much about the Shadow Proclamation anyway." The Judoon ship lifted off; they watched until it vanished into the clouds above.

"Right," Clyde said. "My car's downstairs. Who feels like driving?"

"You do," Dawn said quickly.

"Why me?"

"It's between you and Connor."

Clyde eyed him for a moment. "Right. I feel like driving."

"You can't drive, you broke your wrist," Connor pointed out.

"Oh. I forgot about that," Dawn muttered. "Connor, you have to stick to the speed limit, all right? We just got pardoned by intergalactic policemen, we don't want to have trouble with the Earthbound kind."

"No backseat drivers," Connor said airily. "Come on, Luke, I'll give you a hand."

 

 

Sky threw up when they reappeared. It didn't bother Andrew much; transporting hit some people like that, and she'd had a rough day.

"Feel better?" he asked sympathetically, when she seemed to be done.

"Where are we?" she asked, peering around through tear filled eyes.

Andrew fished a hanky out of a pocket and passed it over. "We're just outside the Slayer house. I'm just waiting for one of them to see us, it'll only be a minute."

"Why are we outside?"

"We can't transport inside; it allows transporting out, for emergencies, but not in. It's a safety thing." Someone yelled from the other side of the gate and he raised a hand. "There. Can you walk, Sky?"

"I'm ok," she assured him. "Sorry about...you know."

"It's not a bother. I'll throw a bucket of water at it later." He studied her for a moment. "I'm sorry I couldn't get you out of there as soon as she gave you to me. The plan. But she didn't hurt you, did she?"

"No. She didn't hurt me."

Rachel opened the gate, gaze flickering quickly over them. "Where are the others?"

"They're coming. I came ahead with Sky. Anything been happening here?"

"No attacks, no. Come on, I'll walk you up."

"Everyone still here?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, they've been waiting a while now. Andrew, is anyone hurt?"

"Not really sure. Everything happened pretty fast."

Sarah Jane intercepted them halfway up the drive, sweeping Sky into her arms. Rani was behind her, joining the hug. Andrew watched, smiling faintly.

Xander wandered up behind them, giving him a manly thump on the shoulder. "You did good, Andrew."

"Thanks."

Sarah Jane looked up without letting go of Sky. "Luke and Clyde?"

"Behind me," Andrew said. "Luke wanted me to get Sky out of there, away from Miss Myers."

"Thank you."

"They're all right?" Rani asked.

"We were separated, and I didn't see them for long when I grabbed Sky. Only a minute or two. They seemed ok."

"Miss Myers got Clyde," Sky said softly.

Sarah Jane studied her for a moment before looking at Andrew. "Where are they?"

Her phone rang and she snatched it from a pocket, fumbling for a moment before flipping it onto speaker. "Luke?"

"Sarah Jane," Mr Smith said smoothly. "I have a message from Luke."

"What is it, Mr Smith?"

"Luke and his friends have captured Miss Myers. A Judoon ship is inbound to take custody of her in accordance with the warrant served by the Fleshkind government. Luke reports that they are 'a little battered, but all right' and they will be coming to you as soon as they have dealt with the Judoon."

"They're all right?"

"That is the message."

"Brilliant," Rani said cheerfully. "Sky, want to come inside with me and get cleaned up?"

"Yes please." She smiled at Sarah Jane, following Rani towards the house. Rachel quietly detached herself from the group to accompany them.

"We'll need a report, Andrew," Xander said quietly.

"Yeah. Can I get a drink first, though?"

"I think we can manage a drink. Come on."

He paused as he passed Sarah Jane, reaching out but not quite touching her. "Luke's all right," he said earnestly. "He was masterminding the whole thing when I took Sky."

"That sounds like Luke," she agreed with a ghost of a smile.

"Come and listen, if you like," Xander offered. "It might make you feel better." Considering Andrew, he added, "Or not."

"Hey!"

"Thank you. I will." She fell into step beside them, heading towards the house.

Inside Xander sent Andrew to wash up and get something to eat, bringing Sarah Jane back to the sitting room and starting to clear away the piles of books and sheets of paper. "For some reason, all our research sessions end up like this," he said mournfully, adding a disgusted "Ew," as he uncovered a half eaten slice of pizza.

"Our alien sessions don't, much," Sarah Jane said thoughtfully. "But I am a journalist. I often have to research things, and it does sometimes end up like this. Plus, my house has been the home base of three teenagers for the last five years."

"Teenagers'll do it every time. When I think of what Giles put up with..." He shuddered melodramatically, grinning triumphantly when she smiled.

Sky and Rani reappeared a few minutes later, pitching in with the last of the cleaning. Andrew, with fantastic timing, turned up just as they were finished, carrying a tray with drinks and snacks. Willow was with him, dropping onto the couch and curling into a corner.

Once everyone was settled he began explaining the plan. "Wolfram and Hart were breaking charter by employing Miss Myers, and especially by helping Korst," he explained. "Luke thought if we could get proof to Angel, he'd be able to stop it – which he should. So we got me on the inside. He didn't want Sky involved at all, so he called Clyde instead of you, Sarah Jane – he thought Clyde would figure out something was wrong. And we had Connor lurking around outside; he was supposed to stop you if any of you did turn up."

"Ah, Connor, getting impatient and ruining the plan. That sounds familiar," Xander murmured.

"Careful. If he's anywhere around he'll hear you," Willow warned him.

"I would take anything he wanted to do if they'd walk through the door right now," Xander said solemnly.

Everyone glanced at the door, but nothing happened.

"Damn," he said after a moment. "That usually works. Right, so Connor wasn't there to stop Clyde when he got there."

Sky quietly filled in what had happened, adding carefully that Andrew hadn't hurt her, he just hadn't let her go. "Miss Myers didn't do anything," she added. "She just drew some blood, and then the computers went down and alarms started going off. She didn't have time to do anything else. And then Luke and the others were there, and Andrew brought me here."

"Thank you," Sarah Jane said quietly, directly to Andrew.

"Thanks," Rani added.

"It was nothing," Andrew said, puffing out his chest. "Just your standard damsel–rescue."

One of the girls came up from the basement, swinging through the room to announce "Connor and the others are coming up the drive." Sarah Jane and the girls were gone on the word, practically stampeding towards the front door. Xander grinned, following them.

Connor waved from halfway down the drive. The others, straggling along behind him, mostly nodded instead.

Luke almost went over when Sarah Jane snatched him into a hug; Clyde hastily steadied him from behind, laughing when Rani threw her arms around him. Sky added herself neatly to the group hug, smiling when Luke wrapped an arm around her.

"Clyde," Sarah Jane said in surprise, seeing his wrist. "What happened?"

"I fell on it. It's nothing."

"We'll look at it," Xander promised. "Dawn, how is...are you drunk?"

"No," she muttered. "I'm just hung over. I didn't get the fun part."

"I may have forgotten to tell you that part," Andrew said guiltily. "Sorry."

"She got possessed by a Sluk," Connor said, catching Dawn's arm and leading her past the group. "And she really needs a shower and about twenty painkillers."

"Oooh, yes please," Dawn agreed.

Willow grinned. "I'll take her, Connor. You can hardly help her in the shower," she added when he baulked.

Xander caught the look on Luke's face at that and grinned to himself. "Anyone else got injuries? Clyde, we heard you were hypnotised?"

"Again?" Rani asked, taking a step back to look at him.

"Yeah, well. She's surprisingly fast." He eyed her. "All over now."

"Yeah?"

"Miss Myers is gone with the Judoon. They're going to hand her over to the Fleshkind government, who apparently did not condone the experiments that led to Sky or the attempts to reactivate her."

"She won't be back." Luke shifted slightly. "Mum, can we go inside?"

"Of course. Are you all right?"

"Yes. I'd just like to sit down."

"That concussion's been bothering him," Clyde offered. Luke glared at him and he shrugged. "It has, you know."

"Come inside," Xander said before they could argue about it. "We still need to hear exactly what happened."

"Oh." Andrew dug into his pocket, pulling out the memory stick and offering it to Luke. "Here."

"Give it to Connor. He'll get it to Angel."

"Oh, will I?" Connor took the stick anyway, shoving it into a pocket. Pulling out a sheet of paper, he glanced at it and passed it to Xander. "You can deal with this, then."

"What is it?"

Connor coughed, scratching at the back of his neck. "It'saspeedingticket."

"Excuse me?"

"It's a speeding ticket," he said more clearly.

"A...Connor!"

"I had to get them back, didn't I? Come on. Let's get inside."

 

 

Connor wandered around the ground floor a little later. Scoobies, Slayers and Sarah Jane's group were gathered everywhere in little groups, filling each other in on everything that had happened or telling success stories. Clyde's wrist had been wrapped, Dawn given plenty of painkillers, and Luke was sitting down and seemed clearer.

He was talking to Andrew and Xander, quietly filing in some of the details for Xander. Connor glanced around automatically; Clyde was entertaining Rani and Sarah Jane on the other side of the room.

"He seems all right," Xander was saying as Connor joined them.

"Clyde's been hypnotised a couple of times. He tried to kill Mum once. It won't bother him." Connor saw the way Luke was watching his friend, though, and thought that was partly a lie.

"At least CLYDE didn't dump anyone in the ocean, right?" Xander said brightly, clapping Connor's shoulder. Connor glared at him, deliberately straightening his top. 

"Andrew did say you're not really part of the group until you've tried to kill someone in it," Luke said. Thoughtfully, he added, "That seems like a bad way to get members. Why would you want the evil people?"

"Andrew got a jump on us that way, he started out evil," Xander said easily.

"I was not," Andrew protested. "I'm just easily led."

"You were brilliant, Andrew," Luke said sincerely. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"Well, yeah." Andrew shrugged. "We're a team now, right?"

"That was something I wanted to tell you about," Connor said abruptly. "I kept not having time – Korst, when Luke and I met him outside the hospital, he said that he'd been caught by one of the Slayer's Alien teams."

"We don't have alien teams," Andrew protested.

"Not yet," Connor agreed.

"Alien hunters," Andrew murmured, eyes wide. "I'll join up. Me, me, me?"

"Andrew, we don't even know if it's possible yet," Xander pointed out.

"It has to be possible, otherwise Korst wouldn't have come back to try and stop it!"

"You can't change things like that."

"You can," Luke contradicted him. "It's difficult, and dangerous, but if you know what you're doing – time can be rewritten." He shrugged at Xander's look. "I know a time traveller. Several, in fact. It can be done."

"Clyde and Rani were talking about that."

"They didn't change anything, they stopped things from being changed. My Mum changed something that time, though. Saved two children's lives."

Rani came past, pausing to eye them. "Luke, got a second?"

"Yeah." He scrambled out of his seat, following her to an unoccupied corner of the room. "You know Connor's probably listening to us."

"I am not," Connor called over. Luke smiled faintly, watching Rani.

"What is it?"

"Sarah Jane got Mr Smith to send the Alien Files to the Council. Just in case, you know."

"Alien teams," Luke muttered. "No, it's nothing," he added off her look. "He sent the Alien Files."

"Including the one you made about the Bane."

He blinked, surprised. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, I didn't think – I'd have held it back..."

"No, it's fine," he interrupted her.

"Are you sure? I've seen that one, it was pretty personal."

"They _met_ Miss Myers. Me standing in the attic talking about Mrs Wormwood isn't nearly as bad. And they've told me stuff about them – it's fine, Rani. Don't worry about it."

"My turn, if you're done," Dawn said, wincing apologetically when Rani spun. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sneak. I'll go away and wait."

"No, we're done," Rani said quickly, leaning in to brush a kiss against Luke's cheek.

"Should be doing that with Clyde," he reminded her. Rani flushed, smacking his arm and heading back to Sarah Jane.

"Come for a walk?" Dawn asked. "Fresh air, good for sore heads."

"And Connor won't be able to hear us?" Luke suggested.

"Still not listening," Connor said from his corner. Luke laughed softly, following Dawn when she headed for the back door.

"What about the Slayers?" he asked, glancing around.

"They're somewhere around. They won't listen to us, though."

"No?"

"They like me." She grinned at him.

"They have good taste."

"Luke Smith, you're flirting with me."

"It's the concussion," he said immediately. "Sorry."

"I didn't say stop." She smiled at the look on his face. "Never mind. I did want to talk to you."

"So does everyone. I feel very popular."

"You should."

He smiled faintly, sticking his hands into his pockets. "How can I help you, Dawn?"

"I wanted to talk about Miss Myers. Well, not really about her. Something you said to her."

"I didn't realise you'd heard anything I said to her."

"Bits of it. I heard some what you said to Miss Myers. About part of her being in Sky."

Luke stiffened, turning to look over the grounds. "Yes."

"Do you believe that?" He didn't answer, and she continued, "What about the woman who made you, Mrs..." She snapped her fingers, trying to remember.

"Wormwood."

"Wormwood, right. Do you think part of her is in you?"

"It's not quite what I meant."

"Tell me what you meant, then."

"Why? What does it matter?"

"It matters to you."

"Sarah Jane is our mother."

She touched his shoulder, trying to get him to turn, but he resisted and she didn't have the heart to force him. "It worries you. Please tell me."

"We were made. Sky and me. I don't know what her template was, I don't know if Miss Myers based her on the Fleshkind or if she had human DNA to use – but I was built from thousands of other people. Frankenstein's monster, cobbled together from bits and pieces."

"Luke..."

"Let me finish." She nodded quickly and he continued, "I've been stable for four years. If we're lucky, I'll stay stable. But if something happens, if my genetic code starts unravelling...my mother knows one person who might be able to help, if she can get in touch with him. But the person who _made_ me, who _knows_ me, she's gone. And I'm glad that – she wasn't a nice person. But I am a little bit afraid. Sky's creator is still alive, and I'm happy about that, for Sky's sake. But Sarah Jane is our mother, always and forever."

"Does she know you feel like this?" Dawn asked quietly.

"No. Or – I haven't told her. Not about Mrs Wormwood. Why?"

"You should."

He shook his head sharply. "It would worry her."

"She's worrying _now._ Trust me. She's your mom and you're keeping secrets from her."

"She doesn't know I'm keeping anything from her."

"Yes, she does, she's a mom. It's in the mom handbook – sorry, there is no actual mom handbook. Forget I said that." She touched his shoulder again and this time he turned to face her. "Moms always know," she said quietly. "She'll know you're worried about it, she'll know it's bothering you. You really should tell her, Luke."

He glanced past her at the house. "I will. But – later. Not now. Too much going on. And I don't think anything's going to happen to either of us right now, anyway."

"But you'll tell her?"

"I'll tell her." He studied her for a minute. "What about you?"

"What?"

"You said the monks who made you were all killed."

"Yeah. But they made me out of Buffy, and after the ritual passed the left over Key energy stabilised me. Or so Giles said, anyway. Well – he used a lot of big words like hyper dimensional interreality matrix, but that was the gist. I'm a real girl."

"You are," Luke agreed. "I recognise real." He touched her hand, weaving their fingers together. "I'm real, too."

Dawn smiled. "And Connor's a real boy."

"I wasn't much worried about him."

"No one ever is," she said with a sigh. "I've heard stories about him, you know. He killed a goddess once."

"I meant to ask about that. Did he really do it by punching her?"

 

 

"Want to know what they're talking about?"

Clyde jumped, spinning to face Connor. "You shouldn't sneak up on people, mate."

"Sorry," Connor said cheerfully. "It's genetic. I just can't help it. Angel spent years sneaking up on Buffy every time her back was turned. Well, every time her back was turned and it was night."

"Your father sounds like such a fantastic influence."

Connor shrugged. "Only ever spent a year with the guy, and it was fairly apocalyptic. We didn't actually get to know each other that well."

"Yeah?" Clyde eyed him.

"He's a good guy. I know that. That's the important thing. It took him a long time to get there, but he is a good man."

"My dad tries to be a good man, I think. He's not very strong. But he tries."

Connor considered. "If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do." He smirked at Clyde's look. "Angel says it. If your dad tries, that's the important thing."

"Be nice if he managed it, though," he muttered.

Connor glanced past him out the window. Dawn and Luke were leaning on the railing at the edge of the patio, talking quietly. "Want to know what they're saying?" he offered again.

"Do you often eavesdrop on your friends?"

"You're trying to lip-read."

"They have their backs turned to us."

"Luke's worried about you."

Clyde blinked. "Is that...he's not saying that."

"No, but it's true."

"Luke doesn't worry about me."

"Miss Myers."

Clyde shrugged it off. "Brainwashing. It happens. Luke's always getting kidnapped. Sarah Jane got taken over, nearly destroyed the planet. Things happen, we deal and we move on."

"Make sure he knows that."

Clyde nodded, glancing out the window. "What are they talking about?"

"Them?" Connor grinned. "They're talking about me."

"Excuse me?"

 

They spent the night in the Slayer house, crowded into the little basement flat. Sarah Jane made some vague suggestions about splitting the two bedrooms on gender lines; Rani listened and nodded and pushed the Smiths into one room, closing the door on Sarah Jane's objection.

"Don't get excited," she warned Clyde. "We're just sleeping."

"Sleeping sounds good to me. I could sleep for a week."

"That sounds about right. Thank god Sarah Jane called my parents."

"Yeah. Think they believed her?"

"Probably not. My dad'll talk Mum around."

"I think he's starting to clue in, your dad."

"Maybe." Rani eyed the bed. "Got a favourite side?"

"One with pillows and a blanket."

"Works for me." She toed off her shoes and pulled off her jumper before collapsing onto the nearest side. "Night."

If he answered, it was lost to sleep.

Rani was the first one awake in the morning; Clyde was curled on his side of the bed, and she smiled to realise that even in sleep he was keeping strictly to his own side of the bed and not encroaching on hers. She slipped out of the room and made tea, tapping gently on Sarah Jane's door when it was ready.

"Come in," Sarah Jane called softly. Rani stuck her head around the door, smiling at the sight of Luke and Sky piled together and fast asleep. Sarah Jane was lying on Sky's other side, one hand absently stroking her hair.

"I made tea."

"Maybe in a little while. Thank you, Rani."

"Weird couple of days, huh?" Rani considered the sleeping siblings, amused.

"It's certainly worn them out."

Rani sat carefully on the end of the bed, catching Sarah Jane's gaze. "Everyone's fine. We're not hurt, Sarah Jane."

"No," she agreed. "We're not hurt."

"And maybe we've made some friends?"

"I think Luke has some ideas about that."

"I can _hear_ you," Luke mumbled into his pillow.

"Sorry," Rani said softly. "Go back to sleep."

"Don't sit up, you'll wake Sky," Sarah Jane added.

"She's awake, she's been laughing into my shoulder since Rani came in."

"Sneak!" Sky protested, sitting up enough to swat him and immediately lying back down. Luke pushed her off, rolling to one side so he could see Sarah Jane and Rani.

"D'you want the tea, then?" Rani asked.

"Yeah. Thanks. Sleep well?"

"I heard that, Luke Smith."

He laughed softly, settling back into the pillow. "Tea's lovely. Thanks. Need a hand?"

"No, it's made, I just have to bring it in. Thanks."

Clyde appeared out of their room just as she finished loading up the tray; she promptly shoved it into his hands and he scowled, following her into the other room. "I've just woken up and somehow I'm the pack mule. Bad wrist and all."

"Oh, Clyde, I forgot. I'm sorry." Rani took the tray back, resting it on the dresser while she passed out cups and pieces of toast. "How is it this morning?"

"Dawn left me pain pills. I am _fine_."

Luke squinted at him, grinning. "You definitely are. Eat something."

"Yep." Clyde grinned, sinking onto the bed. "Morning, Sky. How are you this morning?"

"Fine, thank you." 

"Good. I'm glad."

"Are we going home, Mum?" Luke asked, shifting to sit more comfortably.

"Not sure. I haven't talked to the insurance people or anything."

"Insur...oh. I forgot about the fire."

"That was one day ago," Clyde reminded him.

"I think it was two days ago. Anyway, I've had other things on my mind. Saving us all from Sluks, for one thing."

"Yeah, cos that was going to be hard once we figured they were on a computer system."

"What are Sluks?" Sky asked. "That's the thing that had Dawn, right?"

"Interdimensional parasites," Luke explained. "Miss Myers brought them in to show Wolfram and Hart what she could do. Since we stopped them and her dragon, even if she gets off the Fleshkind planet Wolfram and Hart won't contract with her again."

"We're sure about that?" Sarah Jane asked.

"We will be today. Connor promised to talk to Angel." He rose to his feet, gathering up the used cups and plates and stacking them back onto the tray. "I'll clear these."

"I'll help you," Sarah Jane offered.

"Should we be doing something?" Clyde asked, glancing around. There was no sign of any of their hosts.

"Relax and enjoy the quiet would be my suggestion," Sarah Jane said with a grin. "It's still early, remember. I'm guessing things will start moving fairly soon." She held the door open for Luke, closing it carefully behind them.

They washed and put away in companionable silence, settling at the table when they were done without really discussing it. Luke picked idly at a scar in the tabletop, mentally calculating the amount of force needed to drive a blade that deeply into it.

"What's wrong, Luke?" Sarah Jane asked, breaking his concentration.

"Nothing. I wanted..." He took a deep breath. "Mrs Wormwood's dead. Really dead."

"Yes," she agreed.

"Does that worry you?"

"Does it worry you?"

" _Mum._ "

"Sorry," she said quickly. "Journalist instincts. They're hard to turn off. Let me...no. It doesn't worry me. Why?"

"I'm glad she can't hurt anyone else," he said carefully. "I'm not sorry she's dead. You're my mother, now and always."

"I know." She smiled, covering his hand with hers.

"But it does worry me a bit."

"Why?"

He shrugged, eyes locked on their hands. "What if I stop working? She made me; she knows what I am. No one else...the Doctor, maybe, but there's no one else who can help me if I go wrong."

"You're not going to go wrong."

"You don't know that," he pointed out. "Neither do I. I did the maths once, you know. I know the probabilities of my life. The chances are I'll stay stable; I have this long. But there's a chance, Mum. Not just for me, for Sky. We have no idea what she was made from."

"Luke," Sarah Jane said sharply. "Take a deep breath. Calm down."

He squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating on breathing for a minute. "Sorry," he said finally.

"It's all right. Just remember Sky is in the other room."

"Yes. I'm sorry."

"Luke." She squeezed his hand gently, startling him into looking at her. "Tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking if Sky starts falling apart, Miss Myers is still alive."

Sarah Jane sat back, studying him. "That's true."

"You're our mother," he said, more strongly. "This isn't about that. Miss Myers knows what Sky is. If something happens...I'm glad she's alive."

"You've met the Doctor. Did he say anything to make you think..."

"This isn't about him, either," Luke interrupted. "And no, we were a bit busy at the time. It's not about him. It's not about anyone but Sky and me and our creators."

"I'm sorry this has worried you," Sarah Jane said carefully. "You should have told me."

"It would have worried you. And it wasn't – I didn't realise, until she died, that I felt like this. I don't feel bad she's dead. I'm not grieving. I'm just worried. Just in case."

"We'll figure something out. I promise."

"There's nothing to figure out. I just – I didn't want to be hiding this from you. I don't like not telling you things."

"I'm glad you told me." She smiled, reaching out to brush her fingers over his cheek. "What are the chances, Luke?"

"They change. All the time. The longer I go without anything happening, the stresses I put on my body – they're never high, but they're always there."

"The concussion probably didn't help."

"I couldn't even work out the numbers for a while. I'm glad, I think. It didn't help."

"What are Sky's chances?"

"I can't figure hers. I don't know where she came from, a template or Fleshkind or human DNA. I'm sorry."

"It's all right. It doesn't matter."

Luke studied her, frowning. "You've thought of this."

Sarah Jane considered for a moment. "Yes. Mrs Wormwood almost killed you in the factory. I worried, for a while. But you were so stable. Nothing ever went wrong. So I stopped worrying. I'm sorry I didn't realise it was bothering you."

Dawn knocked on the outside door, breezing in. "Morning. How are we all doing this morning...we're having a private discussion, aren't we. Don't mind me, I'm not really here." She turned on her heel to leave.

"Dawn, wait." Luke glanced at his mother for confirmation. "We're finished. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. Are you sure you're finished? I can come back."

"We're finished," Sarah Jane echoed.

"We're kind of starting to move upstairs. There's breakfast, and Giles would like to talk to you, when you're ready."

"Thank you. I'll get the others." Luke slipped into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.

"Everything all right?" Dawn asked.

"Yes. We're fine, thank you."

She glanced up as Sky came out, talking over her shoulder. "I could probably find everyone clothes..."

"We're going home today. Thank you."

"Sure. Would you like a Slayer escort? Or Connor'd probably go with you, he's a bit more low key."

"I think we'll be all right. Korst and Miss Myers are both gone, and if Angel is able to get Wolfram and Hart under control, that'll help."

"So what's the plan?" Clyde asked, pausing by the table.

Sarah Jane smiled. "Breakfast, first. Then we'll see what we see."

"I am on board for breakfast. Do they need a hand, Dawn?"

She shook her head. "Andrew has it all under control. He likes getting to boss the girls around."

"Cool."

Breakfast was surprisingly controlled chaos. The girls wandered in and out, shouting at each other, and at one point Xander had to break up a mock fight with butter knives, but apart from that it was fairly calm. Connor and the Scoobies determinedly distracted the kids so Sarah Jane and Giles could talk, mostly unobserved.

"I've been watching some of your Alien Files," Giles said softly. "Fine work, by the way."

"Oh, there's plenty more we haven't got to yet. The Files are – really only a hobby. I'll try and get some more done once we have the house sorted out."

"Ah, about that," he said, distracted. "I hope you don't mind; I took the liberty of speaking with our insurance agent, who spoke with yours. The house is sturdy, no structural damage; the insurance payout is waiting for you to claim and if you'll let them know when you're ready, they'll also organise a complete clean. The smell of smoke and damp can be very difficult to get rid of."

"Thank you," Sarah Jane said in surprise. "I didn't..."

"We know all the red tape," he said with a smile. "It wasn't difficult, or illegal, I assure you. Our agent has received a lot of business from us – I believe she's speaking of retiring soon – so she is often willing to help us cut through the red tape, as it were. Your replacement car should be waiting at your house, too. Shame about those children setting it on fire in the road."

"Thank you. It's very kind of you."

"Well, we protectors of Earth must stick together." He studied her for a moment. "Has Luke spoken to you about Korst?"

"Korst? No. What about him?"

"When they caught him, he spoke of Slayer Alien teams in the future. We have taken that to mean teams of Slayers who specifically fight aliens. Your Alien Files will be a wonderful help in that regard, but I wonder if you've any other ideas for us."

Sarah Jane thought for a moment before pulling out her phone. "I know someone who might be able to help you. And I think your methods might mesh more with his than with ours." She dialled quickly, listening as the phone rang. "Captain Harkness. I have someone here I think you should meet."

 

"Who's Captain Harkness?" Connor asked quietly.

Clyde frowned at him. "Are you listening in on other people's conversations again?"

"Yeah, sue me. Who's Captain Harkness?"

"He's Torchwood Three's leader," Luke offered. "They fight aliens, but they do it with lots of guns. Why?"

"Your mother's putting him in touch with Giles."

Luke smiled. "Alien teams."

"Oh. I suppose."

"Torchwood's gonna join up with the Slayers?" Clyde hissed. "You can't let Captain Jack loose in a group of hot teenage girls!"

"He wouldn't try anything," Luke assured him. "He does have some morals. He'd probably just say a bunch of things."

"Right up until the first Slayer broke a bone, anyway," Dawn said primly.

"That would probably stop him," Clyde agreed. "It'd stop me."

"I don't see Rani as the bone breaking type."

"Everyone stop talking about Rani!"

It was a little louder than he'd meant, and conversation screeched to a halt while he slid down in his seat, hiding his face. Rani patted him cheerfully on the shoulder, turning back to Willow to pick the conversation back up.

Dawn glanced at Luke. "Did you talk to your mom?"

"Yeah. It's funny, it didn't fix anything, but I feel better."

"It often works that way."

"Talk to her about what?" Clyde asked.

Luke's gaze flickered sideways to Sky, currently absorbed in the story Andrew was telling. "Tell you later."

"Right."

Sarah Jane passed behind their chairs on her way to the kitchen. "I'm ready to go whenever you are, kids."

"Are we going home?" Sky asked, looking up. "I thought it got burnt."

"Not badly. We'll have some clearing out and tidying up to do, but we can handle that."

"I'll help," Rachel offered from the other side of the table.

"You have training today," Xander said sternly.

"I'll be moving furniture around. That doesn't count?"

"I'll make sure she works out," Connor promised.

"Oh, now you're going too?"

"He's keeping me company," Dawn said innocently.

Xander turned to Willow. "Why do I even pretend I have any authority here at all?"

"Because it's fun for us to watch you, sweetie."

"Oh, well, if I'm providing fun for someone, that's the important thing, I guess." He looked back at Connor and Dawn. "Phones on at all times. Check in with us. I mean that."

"We will," Connor agreed. "Oh, and I need a new car."

"Talk to Angel. I'm out of cars for the year."

"I have to talk to him anyway. Miss Smith, do I have a couple of minutes?"

"Yes, of course. And it's Sarah Jane, Connor."

He nodded, catching Luke's eye, and the pair headed for the study.

"You know," Dawn said reflectively, "Connor didn't even like Luke at the start of the year."

"A lot's happened," Clyde pointed out. "And besides, everyone likes Luke. They can't help it. It's like his super power or something. Enough exposure, and..." He shrugged, grinning at the alarmed look on Xander's face. "I'm kidding."

"I hope so. We know about spells that make people like you, right, Xander?" Willow smiled at the look on his face.

"Hey, I had nothing to do with the jacket! And at least mine didn't produce a monster version of me."

"It just made all the demons chase you."

"They do that anyway. The spell didn't really make a difference there."

"That's true, I suppose," Willow allowed. "All right. We'll let you off this time."

 

 

Connor spent a couple of minutes fielding increasingly awkward small talk from Angel before he finally said, "I'm putting you on speaker. I have a friend here who needs a favour."

 _"Anything I can do,"_ Angel said, voice tinny over the phone line.

Connor leaned back, gesturing to Luke, who cleared his throat. "My name is Luke Smith, sir."

There was a murmur on the other end of the line before Angel said, a little less friendly, _"Yes?"_

"Wolfram and Hart here in London have been chasing me and my sister. We have records, Connor thought that you might be able to stop them."

 _"You and your sister,"_ Angel repeated. Again the murmur came on the other side of the conversation, and Angel, distracted, snapped, _"Well, look into it."_

"Don't bother, Wesley," Connor said, grinning at the sudden silence on the phone. "It's all in the file. I'm sending it to you now." The silence continued for a moment, then the second voice – Wesley, Luke assumed – was murmuring softly, picking out words from Luke's dossier.

Luke had made Connor let him see it. He kind of wished he hadn't. Wolfram and Hart's research had been very thorough.

"They've been chasing him for nearly a year." There was a warning tone in Connor's voice. "And they snatched his sister two days ago."

 _"So you did have something to do with the trouble over there."_ Angel, bizarrely, sounded proud.

"Did we cause a lot of trouble?" Luke asked. "I did crash their computers, but the building's all right."

"Yeah," Connor agreed wistfully. "So much less explody than our normal rescues."

"Sorry," Luke said half heartedly.

 _"You're spending too much time with Xander,"_ Angel muttered.

"Why? Xander hardly ever blows things up."

_"No, but he does say things like 'explodey'. You didn't learn that at Stanford."_

Connor rolled his eyes. "I'm going back to Stanford, Dad. People take time off all the time."

Wesley said something sharply and Angel said in surprise, _"Luke, how old is your sister?"_

"Twelve."

The two muttered for a moment and then Angel said firmly, _"We'll take care of it. Wolfram and Hart will not come after either of you again. You have my word on it."_

Luke closed his eyes in relief. "Thank you."

_"They should never have gone near her in the first place. I'm sorry."_

"It's fine. Thank you." He glanced at Connor, worry in his eyes.

"This one's free," Connor assured him, not bothering to keep his voice down. "London office overstepped their bounds. It's not good for the firm's image. You won't be expected to do anything."

 _"Not expected,"_ an English voice agreed. Luke frowned, and Connor mouthed 'Wesley'. _"If you do ever decide you want to work for us, though..."_

"I don't think I will," Luke interrupted him. "But thank you. I'll remember."

_"Do. There will be a place here for you."_

"Wesley, he doesn't want to be a lawyer," Connor said patiently.

_"We're not simply lawyers, Connor, you know that..."_

"Leave it. Please."

 _"So you're going back to Stanford?"_ Wesley said immediately. _"They will be pleased. Have you been keeping up with your studies while you've been away?"_

"He's been helping Dawn and me," Luke offered. "Does that count?"


	11. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end. Thanks, all. :D

They headed back to Ealing in two cars, Connor driving Clyde and Rani and Andrew – no one was quite sure how he'd got himself invited, but he had. Dawn let Sarah Jane drive the second car and chatted happily with Sky in the back seat.

They reached the house first; most of the furniture was gone from the garden, and what was left was packed neatly under a tarp. Kelsey Harper was sitting on the steps, eyes closed, listening to her walkman.

"Hi, Kelsey," Luke said a little awkwardly. They'd never really spoken after his adoption; sometimes they exchanged hellos at school, but she'd avoided him and his friends habitually and he'd never tried to force it.

"Thought you were never coming back." She glanced at her watch. "About time, too, I was about to leave."

"What are you doing here?"

"Watching your stuff. What'd you think? We've all been doing it." She looked past his shoulder, eyes widening. "Who is that?"

Luke glanced back as Connor swung out of his new car. "Connor. He's a friend of mine from college."

"He is well fit."

"Kelsey," he said warningly.

She grinned, a surprisingly warm smile. "Never mind. You never did understand what I was talking about."

"Thanks for helping," he said, gesturing to the pile of things.

"Lance brought the tarp. He'll be along later. And the Chandras have been keeping an eye in the evenings."

"I'll make sure and thank them."

She grinned, tossing off a wave as she left. She paused at the gate to blatantly ogle Connor, who smiled easily at her and then immediately dismissed her, jogging over to join Luke.

"This doesn't look too bad," he said, glancing around.

"No. I don't know where the furniture's gone, though. Let me have a look. Where're Clyde and Rani?"

"They went to head off her father."

"Good for them," he murmured. "Right. Come inside. Let's see where we're going to start."

The furniture inside was mostly somewhere approximating the right places. Sky was tugging at one of the armchairs, attempting to reposition it; Rachel took it from her, lifting it effortlessly. "Where d'you want it?"

Luke left Sky to get Connor and Rachel to work and headed upstairs. Mr Smith was just powering down as he slipped into the attic. "Everything all right?" Sarah Jane asked, coming to join him.

"Yes. Did you know the Chandras set up a neighbourhood watch on our things?"

"No. What?"

"Kelsey was watching them when we got here. She said Lance would be by later. And the Chandras have been watching at night."

"Well, they're very kind. We'll get everything inside now."

"Sky has Connor and Rachel moving things downstairs. Clyde and Rani went to talk to her father."

"Mmm hmm. And Dawn?"

Luke shrugged. "She's somewhere. Helping with something, I'm sure."

"I'm sure," Sarah Jane agreed. "I just need to check something here, and then I'll be down."

"I'll wait."

Luke fidgeted around the attic, picking things up and putting them back down again. Sarah Jane kept her eyes on her screen, tracking him by ear as he wandered around. Eventually he'd get to whatever he wanted to talk about. Sarah Jane hadn't become one of the top journalists in England without learning patience.

Finally he dropped to sit next to her. "I like her."

"I'm sorry, dear?"

He slanted a look at her, and she smiled; he knew exactly what she was doing. "Dawn. I mean, she's smart, she's funny, she's nice, aliens aren't going to scare her away...."

"She does seem nice," Sarah Jane agreed neutrally.

"But..."

"But what?" she prodded gently.

"She's only the third girl I've ever really been friends with. How do I know if I really _like her_ like her, or not?" Whatever expression crossed her face made him shake his head. "Never mind. I can talk to Clyde."

"No, no, don't be silly," she said quickly, thinking carefully. "You like spending time with Rani."

"Yes," Luke agreed.

"And you like spending time with Dawn."

He smiled without seeming to realise it. "Yes."

"I think you just gave me the answer. How does she feel?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. She hasn't said anything, but – before all this – we were hanging out sometimes. For fun, not just for study."

"That's a good sign."

"Not really. Dawn told me Connor keeps scaring away the guys she likes, and he hasn't said anything to me."

"Maybe he trusts you not to hurt her," Sarah Jane said gently.

"I would never."

"I know. And I think he does, too."

Luke nodded, fiddling with something he'd picked up. "That was before, though. Before she knew about me, about this," and he gestured around the attic. "She went to college to get away from her family and what they do. What if she doesn't want to be with me anymore? I did get her taken over by a Sluk."

"And saved her from it, as I understand it." She shook her head at his look. "You'll have to ask her, Luke. Just – be careful, all right? Take it slowly and let her tell you what she wants."

"I will." He leaned in suddenly to give her a hug; surprised, she returned it. "Thanks, Mum."

"Oh, any time, Luke. Any time." Glancing back at her computer, she closed it firmly. "Right. Let's go see what we're going to need to replace."

 

Clyde escaped from the Chandras after several minutes of grilling from Haresh and chatter from Gita. Rani was stuck, unable to leave again so soon after getting home.

Dawn was carefully working through the pile of belongings on the front lawn, sorting the fixable from the unfixable. "You can keep anything electronic," Clyde said, hunkering beside her. "Luke can fix pretty much anything."

"Even the melted stuff?"

"Anything with a chip in it. At least, I've never seen him fail yet."

"Cool."

"Where's Connor?"

"Inside moving things. Do you want him?"

"I want him not here."

She frowned, shifting off her knees to sit more comfortably. "Oh?"

"Look, I love Luke," Clyde told her. "He's my brother. But he's not – he doesn't understand things. How old were you when you were made?"

"Fourteen. But I have memories of growing up."

"Right. Luke was born at fourteen, and he knows an awful lot of things, but he doesn't really know much, you know? We gave up on humour, and he's awful at slang, and he has trouble with metaphors..."

"Oh my god."

"What?"

"This is the 'if you hurt him I'll kill you' speech, isn't it? I've never been on this side of it before."

"Kill you?" Clyde repeated. "That's going a bit far. I will snub you forever, but since I live in Ealing I'm not sure how much that'll hurt you." Dawn laughed; Clyde grinned before sobering and looking her straight in the eye. "He's the best person I know, Dawn. But he needs someone who'll be straight with him. Be straight with him."

"I will," she said, equally serious.

He smiled, lightening his tone to add, "Oh, also, Rani'll probably nab you at some point. I think she mentioned eye gouging if you hurt him."

"Threats of violence! Now I know what I'm dealing with."

Clyde grinned, sitting back. That was a good day's work. "Right. Let's see what we've got here."

 

 

The house was liveable in, but it still stunk of smoke and wet. Dawn blithely offered the Slayer's house up again until the cleaning service could get there.

"Oh, I don't think so. Thank you, though," Sarah Jane said politely.

"I'm sure Mum and Dad would have you at ours," Rani offered.

"Or we could go to Oxford." Luke shrugged at her look. "Those are the choices, Mum."

"All of us in your dorm is not a choice, Luke."

"Then it's put up with here, go to the Chandra's..."

"Or ours," Clyde put in.

"Or Clyde's, or go back with Dawn and Connor."

"We really don't mind," Dawn said. "Honest. Giles would love to talk to you again, I'm sure."

"I don't want to sleep here," Sky offered. "It smells funny."

Sarah Jane sighed, looking at Dawn. "You're sure?"

"We don't exactly need the space right now, Sarah Jane. Of course, you'd have to put up with Andrew, but..."

"I'll keep him occupied," Luke promised.

Sarah Jane's watch beeped and she glanced at it automatically. "Oh – that's my alarm. Dawn, thank you, I'd love to take you up on your offer. I have to deal with something, but we'll find our way back. Rani, can you take Sky over to yours for a few minutes? I need Luke, and then we'll be over."

"Um, sure," Rani agreed, looking a little taken aback. "Sky, why don't we go pack you a bag real quick, and then we'll go over to mine?"

"Ok," Sky agreed, following her.

"We won't be long," Luke told Dawn.

"Good. We'll have someone at the gate." She grinned around the room, heading for her car. Connor and Rachel followed her.

Clyde quietly tagged along behind Luke and Sarah Jane; she lifted an eyebrow when she saw him, but she didn't try to send him away, leading the way up to the attic. The TARDIS was sitting silent in the middle of the floor, door closed. Sarah Jane threw a brief "Stay here" to the boys before letting herself in, closing the door behind her.

"Did you know the Doctor was coming?" Clyde asked, running a gentle hand over the side of the TARDIS. Artron energy sparked in his palm and he smiled.

"No. I don't think anything's wrong, though, he'd have come looking for us instead of sitting up here." He watched the energy spark between Clyde's fingers. "Does that hurt?"

"No, not at all."

Luke poked a finger at it. "It doesn't feel like anything."

"Hey. You've already got the super brain. Don't go stealing my artron energy."

The TARDIS door opened and the Doctor stepped out, glancing around before grinning at them. "I do love this attic, there's always something exciting going on. Why does it smell like burning? No, never mind. Clyde!" He shook hands cheerfully. "Still carrying around that artron energy I see, good man, never know when I might need that. And Luke! How are you?"

"I'm..." Luke paused, eyeing the screwdriver the Doctor was waving at him. "Fine. What are you doing?"

"Nothing." He whipped the screwdriver behind his back. "Why, what are you doing?"

Luke stepped around him to retrieve the screwdriver, holding it up. "Really?"

"Where did that come from?" The Doctor snatched it back, glancing over at Sarah Jane who was leaning in the doorway of the TARDIS.

"I told you that wouldn't work," she said patiently.

"It was a perfectly fine plan! It would have worked if...his eyes had been closed."

"Sorry?" Luke offered. "Mum..."

"Your mum thought you might like to talk to me. About...those things you were talking to her about earlier."

"Not those ones," Sarah Jane said when he glanced at her. "The other ones. Earlier."

"Oh." He looked back at the Doctor. "All right."

"So may I..." He held up the screwdriver again.

"Yes." Luke stood patiently while the Doctor scanned him.

"Luke?" Clyde said quietly.

"I was talking to my Mum earlier. About Miss Myers, and Mrs Wormwood."

"What about them? Crazy, both of them."

"Lift your arm," the Doctor said.

"How does that help?" Luke asked.

"It...looks good?"

"Luke, what about them?" Clyde insisted.

"Mrs Wormwood was the only person who knew how I was made. If anything goes wrong with me, there's no one who can help."

"Oi!" the Doctor said from somewhere around the small of Luke's back.

"But Miss Myers is still alive," Clyde realised. "That's why you asked what her punishment would be. What would you have done?"

"What would I have done when?"

"If it had been capital punishment."

Luke shrugged, wincing when his shoulder smacked into the Doctor's chin. "Sorry, Doctor. I don't know, Clyde."

"Doctor, is that really necessary?" Sarah Jane asked.

The Doctor pulled his head out of the base of Luke's t shirt. "You never know what might be necessary, Sarah. I love the scarf, by the way."

Luke touched his scarf instinctively. "Thanks. Your bow tie's pretty cool, too."

"No, the bow tie is _not_ cool," Clyde said with a sigh.

"Oi!"

"Doctor," Sarah Jane said again.

"Oh." The Doctor flicked the screwdriver out, examining it carefully. "There are a couple of anomalies there. Nothing to concern you right now. Nothing unstable."

"Nothing?" Sarah Jane said, relieved.

"Right now?" Clyde said over her.

The Doctor ignored both of them, studying Luke. "There is a chance that you will destabilise. It's remote, but it's there."

"How remote?"

The Doctor reeled off a set of numbers, adding for Sarah Jane and Clyde's sake, "Less than a thousandth of a percent. Extremely unlikely." Glancing around, he added, "Sarah, do you happen to have...ah, there it is. Never mind." Picking up a piece of machinery they'd never been able to identify, he began to fiddle with it.

"What are you doing?" Clyde asked, watching him.

"I'm building an alarm."

"An alarm."

"Yes."

"What's it going to do?"

The Doctor glanced up, raising an eyebrow. "It'll make noise. What do alarms usually do? Luke, I'm very sorry about this." He caught Luke's hand, pressing his finger against the machine.

"Sorry about wh – ow!" Luke jerked his hand away, sucking his finger. "It cut me!"

"It needed blood. Sorry. It's only a little poke."

"Let's hope you don't get space tetanus or something," Clyde said, taking Luke's hand to examine his finger. "Who knows if your immune system would stand up to that."

"Space tetanus," Luke repeated.

"Yeah," Clyde said defensively. "Who knows where that thing's been."

"Space tetanus."

"It's a thing! I bet. Doctor, is space tetanus a thing?"

"Hmm?" He glanced up from the machine. "Oh yes, definitely. Very nasty. Your fins turn blue and your gills get all gummy and swollen shut. It's not pleasant."

"I don't have gills or fins."

"Then you're probably safe. Now." He held out the machine; Luke took it reluctantly, wincing in anticipation of being cut again. "Don't worry, the blood testing bit is over. It's attuned to you now."

"So what does it do?" Luke asked, turning it over in his hands. It was just a cube of metal, pitted and marked in spots but mostly smooth.

"Keep it somewhere near you, in your room or car, somewhere you spend some time. Make sure and handle it at least once a week. Anything starts going wrong in there..." He tapped Luke's chest lightly. "This thing will know, and it'll tell me. Well, it'll tell the TARDIS, and she'll tell me." He glanced at Sarah Jane, one eyebrow raised.

"Thank you," she said, smiling.

"Anything for you, Sarah." Glancing at Clyde, he added, "Are you still grounded?"

"No!" Clyde said proudly. "Captain Tybo lifted it because we helped with Korst and Miss Myers."

"We didn't help with Korst, he got away," Luke reminded him.

"Trampling on my moment, Luke."

"Doctor," Luke said, turning to him, "Do you know about Slayers?"

"Know what about them?"

"Korst came from the future and said he was running from the Slayer's Alien team. Do you know anything about that?"

The Doctor smiled. "Spoilers." He grinned at Sarah Jane, turning back to Clyde. "Are you coming?"

"No," Sarah Jane said quickly. "He's still in school," she added when both started complaining. "Come back when he's graduated and we'll see."

"You used to be a lot more fun, Sarah."

"I have to agree!"

"No," she said firmly. "It doesn't matter to you anyway," she told the Doctor, "all you have to do is jump ahead a few months. And it might matter a lot to you, Clyde."

"We could all go in the holidays," Luke suggested. "Family outing to Metebelis Three."

"Family outing to anywhere but there," Sarah Jane corrected him. "Go on, Doctor," she added more gently. "We'll see you soon."

"Thank you," Luke said sincerely, holding up the little machine.

"Yeah, thanks," Clyde added.

"I'll see you again," the Doctor promised. "Sarah, always a pleasure."

"You, too. Goodbye, Doctor."

"Goodbye, Sarah Jane."

Clyde carefully looked away as they said their goodbyes. Luke was avidly studying his new thingy, turning it over and over in his hands.

The TARDIS vanished and Luke glanced up. "Thank you, Mum."

"Feel better?"

"Much," he admitted. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She smiled, squeezing his hand lightly. "Come on. Clyde, you should go home. Your mother probably misses you."

"I could go with you," Clyde offered, following them out of the attic. "If you want."

"Yeah, hanging out in that big fancy house with those gorgeous teenage Slayers, that would be difficult, wouldn't it?" Luke agreed, straight faced.

"Ok, Connor's a bad influence on you."

"It might be Xander, actually. Angel thinks he's a bad influence on Connor."

"So it's like a chain of bad influences then."

Sarah Jane locked the front door behind them and headed for the Chandras. Luke and Clyde idled down the drive, pausing at the edge of the road.

"So," Luke said eventually. "Rani."

"I know," Clyde agreed, making a face. "I think it's been sneaking up on me for a while."

"Yeah?"

He smiled dreamily. "Yeah."

"Well..." Luke frowned. "Am I supposed to threaten you or her?"

Clyde grinned. "Me. Although I think she'll probably take care of that if it's necessary." He glanced at Luke. "So. Dawn."

"Dawn," Luke agreed. "But I haven't talked to her yet. It might not be...anything."

"It'll be something. I've seen her with you. When you get to talk, it'll be something."

"I hope so."

"Ready?" Sarah Jane called from across the road. Luke waved, fist bumping Clyde as he headed away.

"Another night in the mansion," Rani said as Luke joined them. "Some people have all the luck."

"I know, it's tough, right? We'll muddle through." He grinned at Sky, touching her shoulder to steer her down the path. "Night, Mr Chandra."

"Goodnight, Luke. Sky. Night, Sarah Jane."

 

Andrew met them at the gate and chatted about various things he'd noticed at their house as he escorted them up to the mansion. Sarah Jane turned down his offer of food and took the kids down to the flat straight away; Luke offered to share with Sky again, but Sarah Jane sent him into one room and she and Sky slept in the other one.

Luke woke early the next morning and slipped up to the main house, settling near the window to watch the sun rise over the fields behind the house. He was aware that Xander had wandered in behind him a few minutes after he'd settled, but he didn't turn and the older man didn't look for his attention. The sun was well up when Luke finally turned to look at him. "Morning."

"You look serene."

"I like to watch the sun. It calms me."

"Your heritage, I can see why it would. You want a drink or anything?"

"No. Thank you, I'm fine."

"Good." Xander considered him for a moment. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Yes?"

"I like you," he announced.

"Thank you," Luke said warily.

"If you hurt Dawn, I'll unleash the girls on you."

Unsure what to say, Luke settled for "Thank you" again.

Xander perched on the edge of a nearby couch, studying him. "We love Dawn. Very much. You're a nice guy and I like you a lot, but I'm telling you now. Dawn gets hurt, you get hurt. You understand?"

"Perfectly."

"You don't look worried."

"I'm not planning on hurting her."

"What are you planning?"

Luke winced. "I don't know. I don't have a lot of experience." Peering up worriedly at Xander, he asked, "What would you do?"

"My dating experiences, not something you want to replicate. Trust me. But luckily for you, Dawn's pretty low maintenance. Take her for a meal, compliment her every so often. Buy her something pretty. Let her win the arguments..."

"Arguments?"

"Have arguments, and let her win them." He smiled at the look on Luke's face. "Aren't you a genius?"

"With numbers. And computers, and logic. People confuse me."

"You're a guy, girls are supposed to confuse you. It's like a requirement." He grinned again, heading for the door. "Just remember; you hurt her, we hurt you."

"I'll remember."

Andrew passed Xander in the doorway, heading for the kitchen without noticing Luke in his corner. He considered sitting for a while longer, but he was wide awake now and sitting around doing nothing had very little appeal. He scrambled to his feet, following Andrew and offering his help.

Breakfast for a dozen people, half of whom were Slayers and needed a lot more food than normal people, was surprisingly complicated. Luke let Andrew boss him around; Sky wandered up after a while, joining in.

"The insurance people said they'd do the cleaning today," she told him. "We're going home when we've eaten."

"A few nights at home sound good to me."

"What about your classes?"

He glanced up as Connor wandered in. "Mr Giles got me an extension on my assignments. I don't have to be back until next week."

"If you've got an in with the advisor, you should use it," Connor advised him.

"Are you staying here?" Luke asked, leaning against the counter. "You told Angel you were going back to Stanford."

"I am. Eventually. I haven't decided what I'm doing, yet, but there's not much point going back to Stanford now. I've missed the start of the semester."

"Semester is what Americans call terms," Luke said before Sky could ask.

"Close enough," Connor agreed.

"Why do they call it semesters?" Sky asked curiously.

"It comes from a Latin word meaning..."

"Because us Americans are weird," Connor interrupted. "I heard from Wes, Luke, everything's under control." 

"Thank you."

He shrugged. "The Council don't ask Angel for help. He likes to help me out when he can."

"Is anyone going to help me?" Andrew whined. Luke grinned, sliding off the counter to go and rescue the pancakes.

 

Giles drew Luke aside while they were getting ready to leave. "I wonder if you have a moment, Luke?"

"Of course," he agreed, waving Sky off when she tried to join them.

"I want to thank you, first, for everything you did for us."

"I should be thanking you, sir. Without Connor and Dawn Miss Myers might have taken Sky away."

"Dawn," Giles echoed softly.

Luke nodded quickly. "I understand that you love her, sir. I don't know if anything – but I won't hurt her. Not deliberately. You have my word on that, for what it's worth."

"It's worth a lot, actually." Giles studied him. "Who spoke to you?"

"Xander. And the Slayer, Willow's friend..."

"Kennedy."

"Yes. She has a lot of weapons that all needed cleaning this morning. The red axe is amazing."

"Scythe."

"Scythe," Luke repeated.

"Hereditary weapon of the Slayer."

"It's very beautiful. And sharp. She demonstrated."

Giles smiled. "Dawn is very important to all of us. But I think you'll be safe. Connor likes you, and his instincts are usually sound. And, of course, Dawn knows her own mind." 

"Mr Giles, you connected your systems to Mr Smith, didn't you?"

"Yes, he sent over the Alien files. Why?"

Luke shrugged. "I'm guessing he's lifted most of your files by now."

"Excuse me?"

"You keep records online? Demons, prophecies? He's probably copied them to his own memory."

"Why?"

"He's a Xylok, Mr Giles. The most important thing to a Xylok is purpose. Without a purpose, they don't exist. Mr Smith's purpose is to protect the world, and demons are a threat we never knew about. He'll be busy learning everything he can so he can help us if it's necessary."

"It hasn't been necessary yet..."

"Not yet, no. But the twenty first century is when everything changes." Luke shook his head at Giles' look. "It's something Captain Harkness says. Is he going to meet you?"

"Yes. I'm taking Xander and two of the girls to Cardiff today."

"Good. He's a good man." Luke hesitated for a moment. "He does like to – um, hit on people." He waited for Giles' nod to make sure he'd used the right phrase. "Just warn them beforehand."

"They're girls."

"There's no intent, Mr Giles. It's just how he relates to people. And he's easy to – fall for." Again he waited for the nod. "You should warn them, all three, just so they know."

"I will. Thank you." Luke nodded and Giles added, "And Luke, you should call me Giles."

"Thank you."

 

Across the room, Dawn elbowed Connor. "What are they talking about?"

"Who?"

"Giles and Luke."

"Why?" He grinned at the look on her face, relenting. "They're talking about you."

"What about me?"

"Oh, death and beheading if he hurts you. The usual."

"I was wondering why you hadn't threatened him yet," Dawn muttered. "Getting them to do it for you?"

"I haven't said anything to anyone."

"You'd better not touch him," Dawn said warningly.

"All right."

"I mean it! Just because you...wait." She eyed him. "What?"

Connor rolled his eyes, carefully enunciating, "I said 'all right'."

"You're not going to touch him? No 'friendly chats', no cleaning your weapons in plain view, no 'losing' messages..."

"Xander's got you covered on the chat. Kennedy cleaned her entire arsenal, including the Scythe, this morning. Messages are Andrew's thing."

Dawn sat back, studying him. "Really?"

He nodded, understanding her question. "He's nice enough. Better than some of the douches..."

"And we're moving on."

"Anyway, the speed he moves, you'll still be holding hands in three years." Dawn smacked him, laughing. "What? It's true! The guy acts like he's afraid you'll break."

"He's considerate!"

"He's a little slow."

She smacked him again, harder. "Don't do that," she said. Her tone was still sweet, but there was a hardness in her eyes.

"Ow," Connor said obligingly. "That hurt."

"Liar."

"Yeah, but you love me anyway."

"I tolerate you. Are you coming back to Oxford?"

"Are you going to throw me out if I try?"

"No."

"Yes."

"Good."

"You talk very fast," Sky noted.

"It's a California thing. We all talk very fast over there," Dawn told her. "Where's your mom?"

"Talking to Xander. Does he really only have one eye?"

"He really does," Dawn agreed. "It's kind of cool, isn't it?"

Sky considered. "Does he dress up as a pirate at Halloween?"

"Or some comic book guy with an eye patch."

"Does he get a lot of sweets?"

"Depends who he's trick or treating with. Excuse me." Dawn grinned, crossing to join Xander and Sarah Jane.

"I already offered her an escort," Xander said when he saw her. "It's a family outing today."

"Are you sure? I really don't mind," Dawn offered.

"No. Thank you. You're very kind, but...it should just be us. Thank you."

"Well, call us if you need any help."

"We will. Thank you." She smiled, glancing across the room. "Luke! Sky, are you ready?"

Luke excused himself to Giles and came to join them. "Are we going?"

"Yes. I think we're ready." She nodded again to Xander before shepherding her children out of the house.

 

Just over a week later, Luke met Dawn coming out of their Ancient Language class. "Hey. I haven't seen you around."

"Oh, it was all hands on deck there a couple days ago."

"Anything serious?" He took her bag, slinging it over his shoulder, and they headed towards the nearby green.

"No. Well, yeah, but it's dealt with now."

"How did it go with Captain Harkness?"

Dawn grinned. "He does like to flirt, doesn't he?"

"I warned you."

"Kennedy responded. I think it freaked him out."

Luke considered the idea of a Slayer coming on to Captain Harkness. "Probably."

"It's going to work, I think. We're going to try, anyway. Or, at least, they're going to try. I'm retired again." She paused under a tree, tugging him down to sit beside her.

"How does that work, exactly?"

"Well," she settled against his side, "usually it means that at least one Slayer lurks at what they think is a reasonable distance, and of course Connor's still around. If I _see_ a vampire or demon I'll probably do something about it, but I don't go looking. And someone will call me to check in every few days, but they won't be looking for my help with anything."

"Sounds nice." Luke hesitantly wrapped an arm around her shoulder; Dawn snuggled into it and he relaxed slightly.

"Leaves room for life, anyway. I'll go back eventually. But this is nice right now."

Luke glanced up at screaming nearby. Students were flooding out of one of the buildings, trampling one another in their rush.

"Someone is having a laugh at our expense," Dawn complained, scrambling to her feet. Luke pulled out his mobile, dialling the attic; Dawn was already calling Giles.

Rachel and Lisa ghosted up, falling automatically into place on either side of Dawn and Luke. He nodded at them, trusting them to keep watch while he concentrated on the phone. "Mr Smith? We've got some kind of trouble here. Can you scan this area, see if you can pick anything up?"

"I am already in contact with the Council," Mr Smith assured him. "We should have an answer very soon."

"Very soon is probably not soon enough." The flood of escaping students was dying down; Luke watched the last few hurry away.

"We'll have to go in," Rachel said. Dawn nodded, listening to the phone for a moment before hanging up. 

"We're coming."

"No you're not."

"We are. Connor's already inside..."

"Of course he is."

Dawn grinned. "So we're coming along."

Rachel sighed. "Just...stay back and listen to us, all right?"

"Yep."

Luke held out a hand. "Ready?"

Dawn grinned, catching his hand in hers. "Always."

They followed the Slayers towards whatever lay ahead of them.


End file.
